en.Wedoany.com Reported - Recently, China's Jiangsu Hantong Shipbuilding disclosed that the company signed a batch of new orders for mature ship types in March, covering 82,000 DWT and 210,000 DWT bulk carriers, as well as 114,000 DWT tankers and VLCCs.

Specific details of the above orders were not disclosed. It is understood that the order for the 82,000 DWT bulk carriers came from Greek shipowner Erasmus Shipinvest Group, which placed an order for 4+4 Kamsarmax bulk carriers at Hantong Shipbuilding, with a unit price of approximately $36 million. After all option orders are confirmed, the total transaction value will reach $288 million (approximately RMB 1.988 billion), with the first four newbuildings scheduled for delivery in 2028.

For reference, Clarksons data shows that the current newbuilding price for an 82,000-84,000 DWT Kamsarmax bulk carrier is $36.5 million, slightly down from $37 million in the same period last year.

It is worth mentioning that this order marks Erasmus's first newbuilding contract with a Chinese shipyard. In the past, Erasmus only ordered ships in Japan because the company's CEO, John Su, is very familiar with local Japanese shipyards, trading companies, and financial institutions. Erasmus's decision to turn to a Chinese shipyard came as a surprise to the market.

Industry insiders stated that Erasmus chose a Chinese shipyard partly because Japanese shipyards' delivery schedules are already booked until 2030, and also due to pricing factors, as the price for similar bulk carriers built in Japan is more than 10% higher than those built in China.

It is understood that Erasmus Shipinvest Group is an international integrated shipping group founded in 2010, focusing on dry bulk shipping, container feeder services, and LPG transportation. With over 1,000 employees and multiple offices located in shipping hubs such as Greece, Singapore, China, Japan, Vietnam, and Denmark, the company serves global commodity trading and industrial clients. Currently, the company owns and operates a fleet of more than 30 modern vessels, including Panamax, Kamsarmax, Post-Panamax, Handysize bulk carriers, feeder container ships, and LPG carriers.

Meanwhile, Erasmus currently has five newbuildings under construction at Japanese shipyards, including one 17,200 DWT general cargo ship built by Higaki Zosen, two 11,000 cubic meter and one 7,500 cubic meter LPG carriers built by Kyokuyo Shipyard, and one 5,000 cubic meter LPG carrier built by Sasaki Zosen. These newbuildings will be delivered successively from this year to 2028.

While securing new orders, Hantong Shipbuilding efficiently advanced production milestones across its various facilities in March, achieving key milestones such as steel cutting, keel laying, launching, and delivery for multiple projects. The smooth commencement of several new projects has injected sustained momentum into subsequent production.

Including the latest order from Erasmus, according to Clarksons data, Hantong Shipbuilding currently holds a total orderbook of 95 vessels amounting to 13.01 million DWT, including 62 bulk carriers, 14 tankers, and 19 container ships, with delivery schedules extending to 2029.

Among them, the Trafigura project HT-OT319-395 commenced steel cutting on March 2nd; the Pioneer projects HT64-578 and HT64-579 commenced steel cutting on the same day, March 12th. The Pioneer project HT64-384 was laid down as planned on March 30th; the Lestari project HT82-369 was laid down on March 19th.

Regarding launchings, HT64-331 was successfully launched on March 17th; HT82-406 was launched on schedule on March 18th. The close connection of each milestone reflects the significant results of the company's lean construction and process control.

In March, Hantong Shipbuilding delivered the 82,000 DWT bulk carrier "Kari Oldendorff" (HT82-377), built for shipowner OLDENDORFF, four months ahead of schedule on March 30th. The successful delivery of this vessel further deepens the company's strategic cooperative relationship with top-tier international shipowners.

Hantong Shipbuilding will continue to optimize resource allocation, strengthen quality and safety control, enhance project execution capabilities, strive to achieve second-quarter targets, and contribute more Hantong strength to the global maritime industry.

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