On October 9, Hengli Heavy Industry grandly held the naming ceremonies for two 181,000 deadweight ton bulk carriers, the “UETLIBERG” and “ZUGERBERG”, and an 82,000 deadweight ton bulk carrier, the “LEONARDO”. This marks the second time in a short period that Hengli Heavy Industry has simultaneously named three new ships, continuously demonstrating its capability for batch construction and rhythmic delivery of multiple ship types.
The 181,000 deadweight ton bulk carriers built by Hengli Heavy Industry feature environmental protection, economy, and safety, receiving unanimous praise from shipowners and classification societies. Among them, the “UETLIBERG” is the first ship in this series. It was assembled on the building berth and successfully launched, becoming the first bulk carrier of this tonnage in China to be built on a building berth and successfully launched. The “ZUGERBERG” was constructed in the dry dock. The core production line composed of Hengli Heavy Industry’s building berth and dry dock operates with dual-drive and high efficiency, fully showcasing the advantages of large-scale batch shipbuilding.
The three newly named ships were built by Hengli Heavy Industry for the German company Vogemann. Vogemann is a well-known European shipping enterprise and also one of Hengli Heavy Industry’s first overseas shipowners and an important partner. Previously, Vogemann had three 82,000 deadweight ton bulk carriers completed at Hengli Heavy Industry. These ships demonstrated significant advantages during operation, with all performance indicators reaching international advanced levels, earning a letter of praise from the shipowner. Since last year, Vogemann has successively placed additional new ship orders at Hengli Heavy Industry. The friendly cooperation between the two parties continues to deepen, yielding fruitful results.
It is understood that the cooperation between Vogemann and Hengli Heavy Industry began in June 2023. At that time, Vogemann placed its first order at Hengli Heavy Industry for 4 Kamsarmax bulk carriers and 4 Capesize bulk carriers. The cost of the Kamsarmax vessels was approximately $34.5 million each, and the Capesize vessels approximately $63.5 million each, with the total contract value amounting to about $392 million, setting a new record for bulk carrier orders at Hengli Heavy Industry.
Subsequently, in 2024, Vogemann placed an additional order at Hengli Heavy Industry for 4 Capesize bulk carriers, with the price per vessel further increasing to $70 million. The total amount for the 4 ships is approximately $280 million. Recently, the company placed another order at Hengli Heavy Industry for 6 82,000 deadweight ton Kamsarmax bulk carriers, bringing the total order count to 18 ships, with a total order value reaching $882 million (approximately RMB 6.275 billion).
Earlier this year, Hengli Heavy Industry successively delivered the first three Kamsarmax bulk carriers for Vogemann: the “Raphael”, “Donatello”, and “Michelangelo”.
It is understood that the predecessor of Hengli Heavy Industry, STX Dalian, was once the largest foreign-funded shipyard in China, possessing the largest single shipyard in Northern China. In 2022, responding to the national call, the Hengli Group established Hengli Heavy Industry Group, investing 2.11 billion yuan to auction and acquire the former STX Dalian assets that had been idle for ten years, aiming to build a world-class high-end shipbuilding base. In January 2023, the first phase of Hengli Heavy Industry, the “Ocean Factory”, achieved full operation in just 150 days. In January of this year, the second-phase project—the “Future Factory”—achieved operational status within 5 months.
Meanwhile, the Hengli Heavy Industry Cooperation Innovation and Offshore Engineering Technology Industrial Park commenced construction on September 14 in Changxing Island, Dalian. Once all of Hengli Heavy Industry’s series projects reach full production capacity, they will enable the annual construction of over 150 very large vessels, the production of 180 marine engines (including G95 main engines and models below), and achieve full coverage of four dual-fuel types: LNG, LPG, methanol, and ammonia, becoming the world’s largest single-site shipbuilding base with the most complete supporting facilities.
In the first half of this year, Hengli Heavy Industry became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the listed company Songfa Shares. Currently, Songfa Shares is raising capital through the capital market to support the strategic development of Hengli Heavy Industry, planning to invest approximately 3.9 billion yuan in raised funds for the construction of two major projects: “Hengli Shipbuilding (Dalian) Co., Ltd. Green High-end Equipment Manufacturing” and “Hengli Heavy Industry Group Co., Ltd. International Ship R&D and Design Center (Phase I)”. Among these, the total investment for the Hengli Shipbuilding (Dalian) Green High-end Equipment Manufacturing project is approximately 8 billion yuan, with 3.5 billion yuan planned from raised funds. The total investment for the Hengli Heavy Industry International Ship R&D and Design Center (Phase I) project is approximately 740 million yuan, with about 430 million yuan planned from raised funds.
As of now, Hengli Heavy Industry has commenced construction on over 60 vessels and holds orders for approximately 170 ships, with production scheduled until 2029.
