en.Wedoany.com Reported - Dubai-based UAE shipowner Emarat Maritime has ordered two additional 93,000 cubic meter Very Large Ammonia Carriers (VLACs) at Hengli Heavy Industry.

It is reported that Emarat Maritime is entering the liquefied gas carrier market through its orders at Hengli Heavy Industry. In March this year, Emarat Maritime acquired two VLAC resale vessels from Hengli Heavy Industry. These two ships were originally ordered by Hengli Group for its own account and were scheduled for delivery in 2027. Recently, the company has added an order for two more sister ships, which will be delivered in 2028.

Emarat Maritime has already listed the four VLACs on its official website, with hull numbers G93K-3, G93K-4, G93K-5, and G93K-6. Previous reports indicated that these newbuildings will be equipped with LPG dual-fuel engines, with a single vessel price ranging from $105 million to $110 million. Based on this calculation, the total value for all four vessels is approximately $440 million (equivalent to about RMB 3.005 billion).

For reference, data from Clarksons shows that the current newbuilding price for an 88,000-93,000 cubic meter VLAC is approximately $113 million, down 6% from $120.5 million in the same period last year.

The orders at Hengli Heavy Industry mark Emarat Maritime's first foray into ordering liquefied gas carriers. To date, the company's business scope has been limited to the tanker and dry bulk carrier sectors. It is understood that Emarat Maritime was established in 1990 as the shipping business arm of Dubai's Sharaf Group. Its fleet currently owns and operates 19 vessels, comprising 9 tankers and 10 bulk carriers.

Emarat Maritime was already a customer of Hengli Heavy Industry. Last November, Emarat Maritime ordered six Aframax tankers at Hengli Heavy Industry, marking the company's first newbuilding order in nearly 20 years.

It is understood that Hengli Heavy Industry received an order for four 93,000 cubic meter VLACs, the world's largest, from Hengli Group in September 2024, becoming the second private Chinese shipyard after Yangzijiang Shipbuilding to enter the very large liquefied gas carrier market. All four vessels are scheduled for delivery next year. Besides the two sold to Emarat Maritime, the other two were also sold to an undisclosed owner earlier this year.

Hengli Heavy Industry's preferred operational model when developing new ship types appears to be ordering vessels for its own account first and then reselling them to customers. In the past, Hengli Group ordered over a dozen VLCCs at Hengli Heavy Industry. These newbuildings, deliverable between 2026 and 2027 and at lower prices, were highly favored by overseas shipowners and were all resold to overseas owners between 2024 and 2025.

In the first quarter of this year, Hengli Heavy Industry signed a cumulative total of 108 new ship orders, a record high for the same period in history. This includes 76 tanker orders (comprising 54 VLCCs, 18 Suezmaxes, and 4 LR2 product tankers), 12 container ships, 16 bulk carriers, and 4 cryogenic vessels.

In April, Hengli Heavy Industry successively signed contracts for 18 additional new ship orders, including 2 LPG dual-fuel 93,000 cubic meter Very Large Ammonia Carriers (VLACs), 2 82,000 dwt Kamsarmax bulk carriers, 8 181,000 dwt Capesize bulk carriers, and 2 LNG dual-fuel 306,000 dwt VLCCs.

This week, on May 5th, Hengli Heavy Industry signed a 2+2 shipbuilding contract with European shipowner BEACON TANKERS for 158,000 dwt Suezmax tankers. With this, Hengli Heavy Industry's order intake this year has approached 130 vessels, surpassing last year's full-year total of 115 vessels, setting another historical high.

According to data from Clarksons, Hengli Heavy Industry's current orderbook stands at 295 vessels totaling 53.31 million dwt / 10.8 million CGT, ranking first among single shipyards globally by CGT. This includes 126 tankers, 105 bulk carriers, 58 container ships, and 6 LPG carriers, with delivery slots extending into 2030.

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