On March 14, Hengli Group announced on its official WeChat account that Dynacom, owned by Greek shipping magnate George Procopiou, recently signed a formal contract with Hengli Heavy Industries to order four additional 300,000 DWT Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs).
This is Dynacom’s second VLCC order from Hengli Heavy Industries this year, bringing the total number of VLCCs the two companies have cooperated on to 16. Previously, on January 16th, *ST Songfa, the listed entity of Hengli Heavy Industries, announced that it had secured a contract from Dynacom for four VLCCs, totaling approximately $400-600 million, with deliveries planned for the second half of 2028.
*ST Songfa announced on February 11 and March 5 that it had received two separate orders for four new VLCCs each from an anonymous European shipowner. It has not yet been confirmed whether the Dynacom order is included in these batches.
Dynacom is one of the world’s largest privately owned tanker operators, with a fleet size and operational standards that rank among the industry’s best. Since the two parties first began working together, Dynacom has steadily expanded its orders with Hengli Heavy Industries, progressing from exploratory cooperation to repeat batch purchases, and now totaling 16 vessels. It is rare in the international shipbuilding industry for a single shipowner to place cumulative orders for 16 VLCCs at the same shipyard.
Hengli Group stated that securing this order for 16 vessels demonstrates that Hengli Heavy Industries has established stable design capabilities, a mature manufacturing system, and a reliable delivery schedule in the VLCC sector. Hengli Heavy Industries has become the world’s largest VLCC shipyard.
According to incomplete statistics, excluding today’s orders, Hengli Heavy Industries has secured orders for 75+4 new vessels this year, including 7+2 bulk carriers, 44 VLCCs, 14 oil tankers, 8+2 container ships, and 2 Very Large Ammonia Carriers (VLACs), making it the shipbuilder with the most new vessel orders secured so far this year. In the VLCC segment, Hengli Heavy Industries’ market share for 2026 orders has already exceeded 80%.
It is worth noting that *ST Songfa, hailed as the “first listed private shipbuilding company in China” on the A-share market, recently released its first annual report following a restructuring, showcasing impressive results with both revenue and profits surging significantly.
*ST Songfa issued an announcement stating that it expects to achieve a net profit attributable to the parent company of RMB 2.4 billion to RMB 2.7 billion (approximately US$345 million to US$388 million) for the full year of 2025, turning a loss into a profit; and expects to generate operating revenue of RMB 20 billion to RMB 22 billion (approximately US$2.876 billion to US$3.164 billion).
According to the announcement, based on preliminary calculations by the finance department, *ST Songfa expects to achieve a total profit of RMB 2.8 billion to RMB 3.1 billion in 2025, a net profit attributable to owners of the parent company of RMB 2.4 billion to RMB 2.7 billion in 2025, and a net profit attributable to owners of the parent company after deducting non-recurring gains and losses of RMB 1.8 billion to RMB 2.1 billion (approximately US$259 million to US$302 million) in 2025.