Another overseas shipowner has placed an order for shipbuilding at a Chinese shipyard, including two liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessels and two Aframax tankers.
According to shipbroker Bancosta, Sentek Marine has ordered two 18,000 cbm LNG bunkering vessels from CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, with delivery expected in mid-2027 and March 2028. The contract value has not been disclosed.
Sentek Marine’s order is the second LNG bunkering vessel contract announced by Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding this year. In March, Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding signed a contract with Singapore’s Singfar Group to build 2+2 20,000 cbm LNG bunkering vessels, one of the largest LNG bunkering vessel orders ever received by a Chinese shipyard.
As of now, Huangpu Wenchong Gas Ship has an order book of nearly 20 vessels, including 60,000 cbm dual-fuel LPG/NH₃ carriers, 48,000 cbm LPG/NH₃ carriers, 41,000 cbm dual-fuel LPG/NH₃ carriers, 25,000 cbm dual-fuel LPG/NH₃ carriers, 20,000 cbm LNG bunkering vessels and 18,000 cbm LNG bunkering vessels.
As global shipping transitions to low-carbon and multi-fuel operations, the successful construction and operation of LNG bunkering vessels will provide more shipowners and charterers with state-of-the-art LNG bunkering solutions, while also laying a solid foundation for follow-up orders and market promotion.
In addition to Huangpu Wenchong, Sentek Marine has signed a contract with New Times Shipbuilding for the construction of two 113,500 DWT Aframax oil tankers, which are expected to be delivered at the end of 2027 and in January 2028.
According to Clarkson data, in 2024, New Times Shipbuilding received orders for 106 vessels with a total of 4.63 million compensated gross tonnages (CGT), ranking first among all single shipyards (non-shipbuilding groups) worldwide in terms of CGT.
As a leading shipyard in the field of oil tanker construction, New Times Shipbuilding’s order-taking speed seems to have slowed down since the beginning of this year.
Including the latest order, New Times Shipbuilding has only publicly announced three shipbuilding contracts this year, totaling seven new vessels. The other two orders are for three 73,500 DWT crude/product tankers for Greek Pleiades Shipping, scheduled for delivery between 2027 and 2028; and two 159,000 DWT Suezmax tankers for Greek Dynacom Tankers, scheduled for delivery in 2028.
New Times Shipbuilding has dry docks with capacities of 500,000 tons, 300,000 tons, and 100,000 tons. Its main products are large and medium-sized bulk carriers, oil tankers, container ships, and various types of chemical tankers. With the increase in orders, New Times Shipbuilding is investing RMB 5 billion to expand its production capacity. The new project covers an area of 900 mu and will build a 700-meter-long dry dock. Upon completion, it will have four dry docks.
As shown on its official website, Sentek Marine was incorporated in Singapore in 1993 and has been in operation for 32 years. Its main business is ship fuel bunkering.