A pair of 16,500-dwt chemical tankers recently ordered at Tersan Shipyard will be the biggest such vessels to be built in the country for a decade.
According to VesselsValue, the last time a Turkish shipyard delivered a tanker with a bigger capacity was in 2015, when RMK completed an asphalt tanker on behalf of local company Ditas Shipping.
Tersan’s order for the two firm and two optional vessels due for delivery in 2025 are a signal that after years of shrinking and specialising in niche markets to survive, Turkish shipbuilding projects are gradually acquiring a bigger and more ambitious dimension.
Dual-fuel propulsion
This is also evident in the fact that Tersan’s chemical tankers are to be ready for dual-fuel methanol propulsion.
Just like other Turkish shipyards that stayed in the shipbuilding business after markets took a plunge in the wake of the 2008 shipping boom, Tersan had been focusing on offshore vessels, fishing boats and passenger ships.
The yard's last tanker delivery took place seven years ago when it delivered the much smaller, 6,600-dwt chemical tanker Nabucco (built 2016) to Germany’s GEFO.
Tune Chemical Tankers (TCT) — Tersan’s new tanker client — is based nearby, in the Netherlands, as TradeWinds has reported previously.
However, the two companies have a close relationship and are probably affiliated.
TCT’s website already features Tersan as a business partner.
According to the S&P Global Markets database, the group of ships TCT went into business with in 2011 were owned by Tersan Shipping and the Paksu family controlling it.
Expansion programme
Furthermore, TCT head Yagmur Yildirim was briefly a tanker operator at Tersan Shipping before joining TCT in the same role in 2011.
According to Yildirim’s LinkedIn page, he then rose through the ranks at the Rotterdam-based company to become its managing director in August 2022.
The newbuildings that TCT ordered are just part of a more ambitious expansion of its fleet-renewal programme.
“Stay tuned for more updates as Tune Chemical Tankers continues its dedication to expanding its fleet with eco-friendly and sustainable vessels,” the company said in a LinkedIn post.
“We have even more exciting news on the horizon.”
