Taiwanese shipowner Formosa Plastics Marine Corp (FPMC) is expanding its tanker fleet through a newbuilding program.
According to TradeWinds, FPMC has returned to mainland China shipyards to order new ships after an eight-year hiatus, and has announced that it has selected a domestic shipyard to build four 50,000 DWT MR product tankers.
Sources said that FPMC launched the bidding process for MR product tankers at the end of 2024. Several shipyards from China, South Korea and Japan participated in the bidding, and a Chinese shipyard won the bid. It is expected that the formal shipbuilding contract will be signed soon. The new vessels will use conventional fuel and is expected to be delivered in 2028 at a cost of approximately US$48 million, with a total value of approximately US$192 million.
In addition to ordering four 50,000 DWT MR product tankers, FPMC also plans to order two 300,000 DWT very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and has already requested quotes from shipyards.
It is worth noting that this is the first time in eight years that FPMC has chosen a mainland shipyard to build four MR product tankers. The last time it placed an order with a domestic shipyard was in 2017, when Guangzhou Shipyard International built MR product tankers for it.
According to the official website, Formosa Plastics Group registered and established FPMC in Liberia in March 1980. As of 2024, FPMC has 42 vessels with a total shipping capacity of 5.35 million tons, including 4 chemical tankers, 12 MR product/chemical tankers, 2 oil tankers, 7 VLCCs, 16 bulk carriers, and 1 container ship.