Performance Shipping was briefly believed last month to be mulling an order for bulker newbuildings.
The US-listed company revealed on Wednesday an expansion move in its traditional tanker business instead.
The Athens-based firm announced inking a pair of scrubber-fitted, LNG-ready LR2 product tankers in China costing $64.845m each, net of commissions.
Chief executive Andreas Michalopoulos chose China State Shipbuilding Corp for the job — the same yard group in which Performance placed an order for a single, 114,000-dwt sister ship back in March at a lower price of $62.6m.
Under the new deal disclosed on Wednesday, CSSC subsidiaries Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding and China Shipbuilding Trading Company will each deliver one newbuilding in January and April 2026.
“The construction of these LNG-ready LR2 oil tankers, equipped with the latest high-specification engines and meeting stringent emission requirements, along with scrubbers and water ballast treatment systems, will take place at the largest and most reputable state-owned shipyard in China,” Michalopoulos said in a statement.
Performance will pay the yards an initial 15% of the purchase price upon receipt of a refund guarantee. Three further 10% tranches will follow after steel cutting, keel laying and launching, respectively, while the remaining 55% will be payable upon delivery.
Performance’s latest newbuilding orders come in the wake of the company profitably selling two of of its older vessels over the past 14 months.
“These sales and acquisitions constitute our core fleet expansion and renewal strategy,” Michalopoulos said, expressing confidence that the new ships he ordered will yield juicy returns over the coming years, amid expected “historically low” tanker fleet growth.
Performance, an owner of seven aframaxes built between 2009 and 2013, is benefiting handsomely from soaring tanker values and earnings in the wake of the Ukraine war.
Apart from investing in three newbuildings, the company has been using the cash windfall to cut its debt. Performance announced earlier this week having slashed its debt by nearly half after repaying early a $44.8m loan with Greece’s Piraeus Bank.
Majority owned by Aliki Paliou, Performance used to be known as Diana Containerships before reinventing itself as a tanker player three years ago.
Performance was believed to be considering yet another transformation last month when several brokers linked the company to an order for a pair of 64,000-dwt bulkers in China.
Shipbuilding sources, however, told TradeWinds that Performance ultimately did not go ahead with any such order.
