Greece’s Sea Pioneer Shipping has doubled its tally of 50,000-dwt product carriers at K Shipbuilding by declaring options.
The Vasilis Bacolitsas-led company is said to have added two more MR tankers to its original pair ordered in November.
The four MR tanker newbuildings will be powered by conventional marine fuel and are scrubber-ready.
The price of Sea Pioneer’s latest pair of newbuildings has not yet emerged but shipbuilding players told TradeWinds the company is paying about $45m each — the same price as the other two tankers.
K Shipbuilding is scheduled to deliver two vessels in 2025 and two in 2026.
Brokers said Sea Pioneer has “sealed a good deal” with K Shipbuilding as the contract price for such product tankers has breached the $50m barrier for the first time since the 2008 global financial crisis.
In March, South Korea’s HD Hyundai Mipo Dockyard was reported to have inked a newbuilding contract with domestic owner Pan Ocean for four MR tankers.
The South Korean shipping company was reported to have paid $51.75m per ship and is scheduled to take delivery of them between the second and third quarters of 2026.
Brokers said Sea Pioneer has received a “special price” from K Shipbuilding for the four tanker newbuildings as it is paying the shipyard a substantial upfront payment of 40%.
Besides the MR tankers on order at K Shipbuilding, Sea Pioneer also has three kamsarmax bulk carriers under construction at Japan’s Oshima Shipbuilding.
The company booked the trio early last year and is scheduled to take delivery of them in April, June and August 2025.
Dry bulk newbuilding details
Sea Pioneer is believed to be paying around $38m each for the 81,800-dwt vessels, which will be built to comply with the International Maritime Organization’s upcoming Energy Efficiency Design Index’s phase 3 standards.
Sea Pioneer operates a fleet of seven panamax and kamsarmax bulk carriers.
Last week, K Shipbuilding was reported to have inked a newbuilding contract with tanker company International Seaways.
The New York-listed company booked two 75,000-dwt product carriers, pushing its orderbook of LR1 tankers at the Chinahae-based shipyard to six.
Brokers said the pair of newbuildings that Seaways inked were option vessels.
K Shipbuilding is scheduled to deliver the six newbuildings by the third quarter of 2026.
The midsize shipyard has set an order target of around $1bn for 2024. The company is optimistic that it can achieve that objective as it is in contact with several companies on new projects.
Brokers said YS Kang — the former head of marketing for DH Shipbuilding — has been the chief executive and head of marketing for K Shipbuilding since April.
Replacing YS Kang at DH Shipbuilding is NC Lim — formerly from the ship sales team of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, which is now known as Hanwha Ocean.
Lim was said to have joined DH Shipbuilding last year.
