Jiangmen Nanyang Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. (“JNS”) , a Chinese shipbuilder, has secured another new order in the bulk carrier market, further strengthening its order backlog.
On December 23, dry bulk carrier owner Pacific Basin Shipping announced via its official website that it has signed a contract with Jiangmen Nanyang Ship Engineering for the construction of four 40,000 DWT Handymax bulk carriers. The total order value is approximately US$119.2 million, with each vessel costing around US$29.8 million. Delivery is scheduled for the first half of 2028.
Pacific Basin Shipping’s order book has now increased to eight vessels. Notably, this marks the first time in 11 years that Pacific Basin Shipping has placed a shipbuilding order with a Chinese shipyard, having previously favored collaborations with Japanese shipbuilders.
The Vessels are expected to deliver in the first half of 2028, and will feature the latest fuel-efficient, open hatch and logs-fitted design with greater cargo carrying capacity and flexibility than earlier standard Handysize designs.
These acquisitions double the number of vessels in Pacific Basin’s newbuilding programme which includes four newbuilding Ultramax vessels of dual-fuel design that the Company announced in November 2024.
The Company has on this occasion opted for vessels of conventionally-powered, single-fuel design, mainly due to the lack of proven dual-fuel Handysize designs and the postponement in October 2025 of the International Maritime Organization’s adoption of its planned Net Zero Framework and global measures to drive the shipping industry’s transition to green fuels and green ships.
Mr. Martin Fruergaard, CEO of Pacific Basin, said: “One of our strategic priorities is the disciplined renewal and growth of our fleet to enhance scale and efficiency so that we can continue to meet strong customer demand, comply with increasingly stringent fuel efficiency regulations, increase our market outperformance and deliver long-term shareholder value.
We see this four ship deal as a well-timed and attractive opportunity to acquire new Handysize vessels of modern, efficient and flexible design to replace some of our recently sold older, smaller vessels. The flexibility that such vessels have to carry more diverse cargoes opens up more cargo opportunities which enables scope for more triangulated trading and, in turn, increased TCE earnings outperformance.
The agreed price is considered attractive in the current market for newbuildings delivering in 2028, and we are familiar with JNS who have built vessels for us before and who have a sound reputation among leading shipowners.”
Pacific Basin Shipping Limited is one of the world’s leading owners and operators of modern Handysize, Supramax and Ultramax dry bulk vessels. Enhanced by a world-class in-house fleet management team, the Company is committed to sustainable shipping with a keen focus on seafarer safety, security, health and wellbeing, responsible environmental investments and practices, performance optimisation for best fuel and carbon efficiency, and best-in-class service delivery. The Company operates over 250 dry bulk ships of which 107 are owned and the rest chartered, and its fleet growth commitments include an order for four dual-fuel low-emission Ultramax vessels being built in Japan and scheduled to be delivered in 2028 and 2029. Pacific Basin provides a sector-leading freight service to over 600 customers, with over 4,300 seafarers and about 400 shore-based staff in 14 offices in key locations around the world.
So far this year, Jiangmen Nanyang Ship Engineering has secured orders for over 10 new bulk carriers in the market. According to incomplete statistics, these include four 64,500 DWT bulk carriers for Jinhui Holdings and four 40,500 DWT bulk carriers for Zhejiang Provincial Transportation Investment Group.
According to the official WeChat account of Jiangmen Nanyang Ship Engineering, the company was established in early 2005 and is located on the shores of Yinzhou Lake in Xinhui District, Jiangmen City, Guangdong Province. It operates two shipyard sites covering a total area of 915 mu (approximately 60.3 hectares), with a combined workshop area of 140,000 square meters. The facility is capable of constructing vessels up to 100,000 DWT, boasting an annual production capacity of 1.6 million deadweight tons. Currently specializing in the construction of handysize bulk carriers, it has delivered over 150 vessels to date.