On the evening of November 18, Guangdong Songfa Ceramics Co., Ltd. announced that the construction contracts for two 306,000 deadweight ton VLCCs from its subsidiary company Hengli Shipbuilding (Dalian) Co., Ltd. were recently signed and became effective.
The announcement shows that the counterparty to this contract is a well-known European shipowner. According to the agreement between the shipowner and Hengli Shipbuilding and the relevant provisions of the “Interim Measures for the Administration of Deferral and Exemption of Information Disclosure by Listed Companies,” the specific information of the shipowner is exempt from disclosure. The total contract amount is approximately USD 2-3 billion (approximately RMB 14.22-21.32 billion), and the new vessels are scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2028.
For reference, data from Clarksons shows that the current newbuilding price for a 315,000-320,000 deadweight ton VLCC is about USD 126 million (approximately RMB 897 million), slightly lower than the USD 129 million from the same period last year.
The 306,000 DWT VLCC contracted this time is an internationally mainstream large crude oil tanker type, featuring large loading capacity, strong endurance, and high operational efficiency. This ship type is designed to balance route adaptability and loading flexibility, can efficiently match the loading and unloading equipment of major global crude oil ports, and can meet the needs of transoceanic long-distance crude oil trunk line transportation and large-scale transportation from large oil fields to refineries. It is a crude oil tanker that conforms to the latest international tanker design concepts and meets the current international shipping market’s demand for large-scale, low-carbon transportation.
This is the second VLCC order received by Hengli Heavy Industry this week. Just one day earlier, on the evening of November 17, Songfa Co., Ltd. announced that the construction contracts for two 306,000 DWT VLCCs and six 114,000 DWT crude /product oil tankers from Hengli Shipbuilding (Dalian) were signed and became effective.
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, spending RMB 2.11 billion to successfully bid for and acquire the original 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, and the second-phase project—the “Future Factory”—achieved production in 5 months in January of this year. In September of this year, the Hengli Heavy Industry Cooperation Innovation and Offshore Technology Industrial Park commenced construction in Changxing Island, Dalian.
As of now, Hengli Heavy Industry has commenced construction on over 60 vessels and holds orders for approximately 170 vessels, with production scheduled until 2029. Once all Hengli Heavy Industry series projects reach full production capacity, they will enable the annual construction of over 150 ultra-large vessels, the production of 180 marine engines (including G95 main engines and below models), and achieve full coverage of four dual-fuel types: LNG, LPG, methanol, and ammonia. It will become the world’s largest single-site shipbuilding base with the most complete supporting facilities.
