On February 24, *ST Songfa, the listed entity of Hengli Heavy Industries, issued an announcement stating that the construction contract for two Capesize bulk carriers of its subsidiary Hengli Shipbuilding (Dalian) Co., Ltd. was recently signed and came into effect, with a total contract value of approximately US$140 million to US$200 million.
The announcement disclosed that the counterparty to the contract is a well-known European shipowner. According to the agreement between the shipowner and Hengli Shipbuilding and the relevant provisions of the “Regulations on the Temporary Suspension and Exemption of Information Disclosure by Listed Companies”, the shipowner’s specific information is exempted from disclosure.
According to previous reports, in mid-February, Hengli Shipbuilding announced the effective of 17 shipbuilding contracts, including one LR2 crude oil/product tanker, eight 306,000 DWT Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), four Capesize bulk carriers and four 6,000 TEU container ships, with a total contract value of approximately US$1.6-1.8 billion.
The order of four Capesize bulk carriers come from a single-ship subsidiary of Maran Dry Management Inc., a core shipping company within the Greek Angelicoussis Shipping Group, specializing in dry bulk shipping. The company’s main businesses include the commercial operation, technical management, crew management, and chartering of dry bulk vessels. Currently, it manages 40 large dry bulk vessels with a deadweight tonnage exceeding 7 million, making it a leading global dry bulk shipping company with a solid reputation.
According to Hengli Group’s official WeChat account, Maran Dry’s order also includes two potion vessels, for a total of 4+2 vessels.
According to statistics, including the aforementioned contracts, Hengli Heavy Industries has received orders for 64+2 new ships this year, including 7 bulk carriers, 35 VLCCs, 14 oil tankers, and 8+2 container ships.