In the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, Greek shipowner Danaos Corporation announced an order for two 211,000 DWT Newcastlemax bulk carriers, with delivery expected in 2028. At the time, the shipowner did not disclose the specific shipyard; this information has now been made public.
Ship brokers and sources revealed that the unnamed shipyard is actually Daijin Heavy Industry. Daijin Heavy Industry is reportedly planning to enter the commercial shipping sector and is currently negotiating more orders, but nothing has been finalized.
It is understood that Daijin Heavy Industry is known for its deck transport vessels and offshore engineering vessels. On February 10, Daijin Heavy Industry’s first 40,000 DWT deck transport vessel “KING ONE”, was named and made its maiden voyage at the Daijin Penglai Offshore Engineering Base.
The delivery of the “KING ONE” vessel is a significant milestone in the development of Daijin Heavy Industry. On the one hand, the vessel was independently developed and built by Daijin Heavy Industry, signifying that the company has acquired the capability to independently design and build high-end special vessels, and has successfully established a dual-core manufacturing system of “wind power equipment + offshore engineering vessels”. On the other hand, it marks the formal formation of Daijin Heavy Industry’s complete industrial chain closed loop of “own factory, own cargo, own ships, and own port”.
It is worth noting that when announcing the aforementioned bulk carrier order, Danaos also disclosed that it had placed an order for four 5,300 TEU container ships at Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding, which are expected to be delivered between 2028 and 2029.
As of December 31, 2025, Danaos had an order backlog of 29 vessels: 27 container ships with a total capacity of 174,550 TEU under construction, with 3, 13, 7 and 4 ships expected to be delivered in 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029 respectively; and 2 bulk carriers, each with a deadweight of 211,000 tons, with a second-hand Capesize dry bulk carrier expected to be received by the end of the first quarter of 2026.