Tsakos Group of Greece is said to have added one more suezmax tanker newbuilding at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), doubling its order tally for the ship-type at the Ulsan-based shipyard.
Like the previous newbuilding, Tsakos’ latest 158,000-dwt crude carrier was converted from feeder container ships into the suezmax tanker, shipbuilding sources said.
In January, TradeWinds reported that Tsakos switched one sub-panamax boxship at HHI for one suezmax tanker newbuilding. But a source has now said it was two container ships for one tanker.
“Tsakos ordered a total of four 2,800-teu newbuildings at HHI last year and has used two boxships to swap for one suezmax vessel,” a shipbuilding player said.
Officials at HHI declined to comment on the shipyard’s newbuilding activities, citing contract confidentiality, while Tsakos’ managers did not respond to a request for comment.
Market observers believe the falling container ship market and the rising tanker sector have led Tsakos to make the switch in ship type.
Tsakos ordered the four 2,800-teu container ships from HHI in May 2022. The deal was considered “extraordinary” as HHI stopped building feeder boxships for more than a decade and only constructs container ships of more than 7,000-teu at its site.
But HHI was able to offer the four feeder boxship slots after it rejigged its production plan and “squeezed out” some early slots for smaller ships to be delivered between the end of 2023 and early 2024.
Tsakos was reported to be paying a premium price of $47m each for the efficient but conventionally fuelled container ships. The high newbuilding price reflected the early delivery dates, and the contract was inked when the freight rates for container ships were going through the roof.
Shipbuilding sources said Tsakos is paying around $85m apiece for the scrubber-fitted suezmax tankers and it will be taking delivery of the two newbuildings in 2025.
Tsakos recently took delivery of the 2,782-teu Irenes Wisdom (built 2023) from Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) — HHI’s sister yard. The vessel was part of six sub-panamax container ships that the company ordered between May 2021 and early 2022.
IHS Markit shows the Irenes Wisdom was delivered in January and is operated by Oman Shipping Co, also known as Asyad Shipping.
Tsakos is scheduled to take delivery of two more feeder container ship newbuildings from HMD this year and the remaining three in 2025.
Harry Papachristou contributed to this article
