Hong Kong-listed Seacon Shipping is adding two chemical tankers to its growing fleet.
The Chinese shipowner and operator has bareboat chartered two 18,500-dwt newbuildings from YingXing Financial Leasing.
Seacon said it had fixed the two chemical tankers for 12 years and it holds an option to purchase them when the charter ends.
The 18,500-dwt chemical tankers, to be named Golden Magnolia and Golden Begonia, are being built at Wuhu Shipyard and they are slated to be delivered in March and June 2026.
Seacon puts the value of the charter contract as $55.9m.
Shipbuilding sources said YingXing Financial Leasing is a newcomer to the shipping industry. It joined the business last year.
The newbuilding price of the 18,500-dwt tankers has yet to emerge. But as guidance, Seacon ordered the same ship type at Wuhu Shipyard in March for $30.1m.
The chemical tanker, to be named Golden Bamboo, is slated to be delivered at the end of 2025.
Predominantly a bulker player, Seacon is keen to increase its tanker stable. The company currently has a owned fleet of 10 product/chemical tankers of between 16,000 dwt and 50,000 dwt.
Fleet to double
The fleet is set to double in three years as Seacon has 13 tanker newbuildings under construction at shipyards, including the bareboat chartered pair from YingXing Financial Leasing.
Seacon ordered four MR tankers newbuildings at Chengxi Shipyard which it owns with CSSC Leasing. Two vessels are slated to be delivered in 2025 and two in 2027.
Seacon also has six 18,500-dwt MarineLINE coated chemical tankers being built at Fujian Southeast Shipbuilding Co for delivery in 2026 and 2027.
The Qingdao-based shipping company was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on 29 March 2023.
Seacon has spent almost $700m in the past 18 months in expanding its fleet with secondhand vessels and ordering bulker and tanker newbuildings.
On the bulker front, it has a few handysize vessels under construction at Japan’s Tsuneishi Zosen and Namura Shipbuilding, and one 62,000-dwt multipurpose vessel on order at Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding.
Seacon currently controls about 30 vessels of 1.45m dwt.
