Mercuria Energy Trading has jumped aboard the VLCC newbuilding bandwagon with an order for one vessel and a long-term charter on a second.
The 300,000-dwt tanker will be the giant trader’s first owned VLCC.
The order joins a surge in VLCC newbuilding contracts. Ray Car Carriers, DHT Holdings, Magni Partners, Dynacom Tankers, Sea Tankers and Capital Maritime & Trading have signed up for big tankers this year.
Mercuria is the second trading company to order a VLCC in 2024 after Trafigura.
Shipbuilding players said China’s state-owned Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding will construct the conventionally fuelled duo for delivery in 2027.
Mercuria is said to have ordered its ship last month, although talks began last year.
As for the chartered newbuilding, sources said it was ordered by China Shipbuilding Consulting Co (CSCC) — a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp’s trading arm, China Shipbuilding Trading Corp.
Long-term charter
The leasing company is said to have fixed the vessel out to Mercuria long term, although the charter term and rate have not been disclosed.
Brokers said Mercuria and CSCC would pay around $120m per ship.
Officials at the yard were not available for comment. Mercuria has been contacted for further information.
Geneva-based Mercuria controls a fleet of 42 vessels from bunker tankers to VLCCs, according to the S&P Maritime Portal.
The owned fleet numbers 37 units, of which three are suezmax tankers and the rest are bunker tankers.
S&P Maritime Portal shows Mercuria operating two VLCCs — the 299,000-dwt Hercules I (built 2017) and 300,000-dwt Sea Lion (built 2020). The former is owned by Tsakos Energy Navigation and the latter by a company registered as Idun Maritime.
In February, Trafigura contracted Jiangsu New Hantong Ship Heavy Industry to build two 319,000-dwt crude carriers to be delivered in the second half of 2026.
The order marked Jiangsu New Hantong’s debut in the VLCC sector.
Mercuria’s newbuilding deal at SWS ends a nine-year VLCC order drought for the shipyard.
According to Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network, the last time it won a VLCC contract was in 2015, when Transportation Recovery Fund ordered the 300,900-dwt Leicester, delivered in January 2017. It is trading in Navig8’s VL8 Pool.
Orders for VLCCs took off last year, with 18 newbuildings being signed, and 23 orders have been placed since January this year. In 2022, there were no orders for the ship type.
Clarksons’ SIN says the orderbook stands at 46 VLCCs, of which 34 will be constructed by Chinese shipyards, eight in South Korea and four in Japan.
Tankers International said the resurgence of ordering is unlikely to knock the sector’s gradual recovery off track, with an ageing fleet set to outweigh deliveries. It said the orderbook-to-fleet ratio remains historically low.
