Chinese shipping giant COSCO Shipping Bulk Co., Ltd. has built two new Newcastlemax bulk carriers at its compatriot shipyard to expand its order volume, according to Splash.
Ship brokers said that COSCO Shipping Bulk has placed an order for two 209,800 DWT Newcastlemax bulk carriers at Beihai Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation. The vessels are expected to be delivered in October and December 2027 at an unknown cost.
Sources revealed that COSCO Shipping Bulk’s contract for shipbuilding at Beihai Shipbuilding also includes options for another 10 new vessels. In addition, the shipping giant is considering placing further orders for Newcastlemax bulk carriers with at least two Chinese shipyards.
If the order is confirmed, it will be the second shipbuilding contract that Beihai Shipbuilding has made public this year. The first order that the shipyard has made public this year is also for bulk carriers, two 180,000 DWT bulk carriers from Taiwan shipowner U-Ming Marine, which are expected to be delivered in 2028.
As a Chinese shipping giant, in 2024, COSCO Shipping Group invested heavily in launching a large-scale new shipbuilding plan in the dry bulk field.
On August 30, 2024, COSCO SHIPPING Development, a subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING Group, announced that it would entrust a subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry to invest in the construction of 20 bulk carriers, including 2 82,500 DWT bulk carriers of COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry (Yangzhou), 13 80,000 DWT bulk carriers of COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry (Dalian), and 5 64,000 DWT bulk carriers of COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry (Zhoushan); and commissioned CSSC Chengxi Shipyard (CSSC Chengxi) to build 22 bulk carriers. The total value of the 42 new vessels is about 12.7 billion yuan (excluding tax), and after delivery, they will all be leased to COSCO SHIPPING Bulk in the form of operating leases.
A few months later, COSCO Shipping Bulk announced that it had signed a contract with COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Yangzhou) for the construction of up to eight 210,000 dwt-class methanol and ammonia reserved bulk carriers, to be delivered and put into operation from August 2027 to November 2028 successively.
In related news, COSCO SHIPPING Holdings, a subsidiary of COSCO SHIPPING Group, announced on April 29 that it had placed a one-time order for 14 18,500TEU methanol dual-fuel container vessels. Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (NACKS) and Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (DACKS) will build 5 and 9 vessels respectively. They are expected to be delivered between the third quarter of 2028 and the third quarter of 2029, with a total price of US$3.08 billion.
According to the official website, COSCO Shipping Bulk is an important subsidiary of China Ocean Shipping(Group) Company. As the world’s largest professional bulk cargo transportation company, COSCO Shipping Bulk owns more than 500 bulk carriers of various types with a total deadweight tonnage of over 51 million tons, loading all kinds of bulk cargoes such as iron ore, coal, grain, and general cargo. Its routes cover the domestic coastal areas and major ports in the world, and its service network spans the globe.