Stolt Tankers’ joint venture in China has added to its fleet with a newbuilding order for its biggest ships.
The Stolt-Nielsen company’s Shanghai SC-Stolt Shipping (SSCSSL) said it has signed a contract with the domestic Wuchang Shipyard to build two 9,200-dwt chemical tankers.
The first ship will be delivered at the end of 2024 and the second early in 2025, bringing the JV fleet to 11 ships.
No price has been given for the deal.
SC-Stolt Shipping owns 51% of the venture, with Netherlands-based Stolt Tankers having 49%.
The company focuses on the transport of bulk liquid chemicals for domestic trades in China.
VesselsValue assesses the current fleet of nine ships as worth $64.5m, with an average age of 12 years.
These tankers range in size from 3,700 dwt to 5,800 dwt.
Stolt-Nielsen chief executive Niels Stolt-Nielsen told a conference call with analysts last month that the group would rather spend money on newbuildings than secondhand tankers at current elevated price levels.
Also in March, the Stolt Tankers fleet was updated with the purchase of two Turkish-controlled vessels potentially worth upwards of $50m.
Stainless steel additions
The owner said two modern 15,000-dwt stainless steel vessels built in 2018 and 2019 have been added for inter-Caribbean services.
The company will rename them Stolt Condor and Stolt Tucan but did not reveal their current identities. Delivery will be in the second quarter.
Brokers identified the tankers as the Turkish-built, 15,100-dwt Chemical Atlantik (built 2018) and Preveze 1 (built 2019).
