The construction contract for two 306,000-ton VLCC vessels of Hengli Shipbuilding (Dalian) Co., Ltd. has been signed and took effect recently. The announcement shows that the trading party of this contract is a well-known European shipowner. According to the agreement between the shipowner and Hengli Shipbuilding, the specific information of the shipowner will not be disclosed. The total contract amount is approximately 2-3 billion US dollars (about 14.22-21.32 billion yuan), and the new ships are planned to be delivered in the first half of 2028.
As a reference, according to Clarksons' data, the current new construction price of a 315,000-320,000-ton VLCC is approximately 126 million US dollars (about 8.97 billion yuan), slightly lower than the 129 million US dollars of the same period last year.
The 30.6-ton VLCC contracted this time is an international mainstream large crude oil transportation vessel type, featuring large loading capacity, strong endurance, and high operational efficiency. This vessel type is designed to balance the adaptability of the route and loading flexibility, and can efficiently adapt to the loading and unloading equipment of major crude oil ports worldwide, meeting the demands for cross-ocean long-distance crude oil trunk transportation and large-scale transportation from oil fields to refineries. It is an oil tanker that conforms to the latest international oil tanker design concepts and meets the current international shipping market's demands for large-scale and low-carbon transportation.
This is the second VLCC order contracted by Hengli Heavy Industry this week. Just one day ago, Songfa Co., Ltd. announced on November 17 evening that the construction contract for 2 306,000-ton VLCC and 6 114,000-ton crude oil/fuel oil transportation ships of Hengli Shipbuilding (Dalian) Co., Ltd. has taken effect.
It is understood that the predecessor of Hengli Heavy Industry, STX Dalian, was once the largest foreign-owned shipyard in China, with the largest single shipyard in northern China. In 2022, in response to the national call, Hengli Group established Hengli Heavy Industry Group and spent 2.11 billion yuan to bid and acquire the idle assets of STX Dalian for ten years, aiming to build a world-class high-end shipbuilding base. In January 2023, the first phase of Hengli Heavy Industry, "Ocean Factory", was fully operational in 150 days, and the second phase project - "Future Factory" was put into production in 5 months. In September this year, the Hengli Heavy Industry Cooperation Innovation and Marine Engineering Technology Industrial Park was started construction in Changxing Island, Dalian.
As of now, Hengli Heavy Industry has started the construction of more than 60 ships, with about 170 ships on hand orders and production scheduled until 2029. When all the series projects are fully operational, it can achieve annual construction of over 150 ultra-large ships, production of 180 marine engines, including G95 and below models, and achieve full coverage of four types of dual-fuel, including LNG, LPG, methanol, and ammonia, becoming the largest single-shipyard base in the world with the most complete supporting facilities.