Greece’s Monte Nero Management is said to have expanded its orderbook with up to four product tanker newbuildings.
The Athens-based company is said to have commissioned Chinese ship repair company Cosco Heavy Industry Guangdong (Cosco HI Guangdong) to build the 50,000-dwt MR carriers.
According to market sources, Monte Nero has ordered two firm vessels to be delivered in 2027, with an option for two more.
It is said to be paying the market price of around $43m to $44m per ship.
Cosco HI Guangdong, which last contracted a newbuilding in 2018, is scheduled to deliver the firm tankers in 2027.
Officials at the yard were not available for comment.
Monte Nero was established in 2018, and Athens sources have linked it to shipowner Panagis Zissimatos.
TradeWinds has contacted Monte Nero for confirmation.
If confirmed, the deal would bring its MR newbuilding tally to six.
The company has four vessels under construction at Huanghai Shipbuilding in China, which it ordered in July, for delivery in 2027.
VesselsValue lists its fleet as two Jiangnan-built panamaxes and one Japanese-built supramax bulker.
The outfit is associated with Swiss Carriers, led by Zissimatos.
In addition to the MR newbuildings, Monte Nero has three ultramax bulker newbuildings on order at Nantong Xiangyu Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering.
They are listed on VesselsValue’s database as Hull Nos 155, 156 and 157, and are due for delivery in the second half of next year.
Shipbuilding sources said Cosco HI Guangdong is staging a comeback in the newbuilding market.
The ship repair yard is believed to have restarted shipbuilding activity early this year when it was contracted by Singapore’s Consort Bunkers to build four 7,999-dwt methanol tankers for delivery in 2026.
Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network shows the last vessel Cosco HI Guangdong constructed was a platform supply ship in 2022.
Its last newbuilding contract was in late 2018, when X-Press Feeders ordered two 1,762-teu container vessels.
It delivered the pair — X-Press Salween and X-Press Sagarmala — in 2021.
Shipbuilding players said Monte Nero’s MR tanker order is a “landmark” deal for the Cosco yard as the newbuildings would be the largest commercial vessels it has built.
Cosco HI Guangdong is one of China’s top 10 ship repair yards, working on LNG carriers, vessel conversions and repairs. It is one of the nine yards under Cosco Heavy Industry.
