Greek shipowner George Procopiou is adding to his huge newbuilding orderbook with four ice-class aframax product carriers.
His Dynacom Tankers Management has ordered the 115,000-dwt, conventionally fuelled quartet at China’s DSIC Shanhaiguan Shipbuilding Industry Co — a subsidiary of Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co.
These are options that Procopiou has held with the yard since April, when he ordered 10 LR2 tankers there.
Market sources tell TradeWinds that the options were declared several weeks ago. In contrast to the initial 10 ships, the latest four are ice-class vessels.
The price for the quartet was not disclosed, but Dynacom was reported to have paid between $61m and $63m each for the earlier newbuildings.
Dynacom confirmed the details of the newbuilding deal.
According to Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network, the global orderbook for LR2 tanker newbuildings stands at 102 units, 68 of which were ordered this year and 24 in 2022.
Dynacom topped the LR2 orderbook rankings, followed by Angeliki Frangou’s Navios Maritime Partners with 10 ships.
Procopiou is an ardent believer in a gradual transition towards net zero and advocates for efficient conventionally fuelled ships in lieu of potentially more promising but still experimental technologies.
No quick fixes towards net zero
Net zero “is not a switch, it’s a journey”, he told the Maritime Cyprus conference last month.
He cited his huge newbuilding programme with Chinese shipyards as an example of the gradual way he believes things should be done.
“Even though our fleet is 11 years old, we ordered a huge number of vessels that are by 35% to 40% better in consumption,” he said.
“These are the real steps — the rest is just bullsh*t.”
Dynacom is installing scrubbers on several of its newbuildings, provided by Zhejiang Energy Marine Environmental Technology.
Burgeoning market
Brokers said the strong demand for LR2 newbuildings is being driven by a dramatic improvement in tanker markets since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began, and the gradual shift of predominantly ageing tankers from the mainstream fleet to the shadow fleet to trade almost solely Russian barrels.
Norwegian shipbroker Steem1960 expects average time charter equivalent rates of more than $35,000 this year for the ship type before they edge upwards and top $40,000 in 2026.
It said the comparatively high orders for LR2s over other sectors reflect the caution of owners who are opting for the versatility of vessels that can haul clean or dirty products.
DSIC Shanhaiguan is scheduled to deliver Procopiou’s 14 newbuildings between the second half of 2025 and 2027.
Dynacom also has two 115,000-dwt product carriers under construction at privately owned New Times Shipbuilding for June 2025 and June 2026 delivery. It ordered them in May and is believed to be paying around $61.5m per ship.
In July, Dynacom splashed out around $690m on six VLCC newbuildings to be delivered between 2026 and 2027. It contracted DSIC to build two 307,000-dwt vessels and New Times four 320,000-dwt units.
DSIC’s subsidiary, CSSC Tianjin Shipbuilding, the former Tianjin Xingang Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, is constructing the pair of crude carriers.
Returns to LR1s
Early this month, Dynacom was reported to have ordered LR1 product carriers for the first time in 17 years, commissioning Singapore-listed Yangzijiang Shipbuilding to build two 75,000-dwt ships.
The company was reported to be paying about $53m each, for delivery in 2026.
In the dry bulk segment, Procopiou’s Sea Traders has been busy, ordering 22 kamsarmaxes worth $786m between July and September.
State-owned CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding was contracted to build eight ships of 85,000 dwt. Hengli Heavy Industry (the former STX Dalian Shipbuilding) is building 10 and Qingdao Yangfan Shipbuilding, also known as Qingdao Shipyard, has four.
The newbuildings at Hengli and Qingdao Yangfan are slightly smaller at 82,000 dwt and were reported to cost around $35m apiece, while the Huangpu ships were $37m each.
Sea Traders will be taking delivery of the kamsarmaxes between 2025 and 2027.
