On April 16, DH Shipbuilding announced that it had signed a contract with an African shipping company to build a 157,000 DWT Suezmax tanker, with an order value of approximately US$89 million, which is expected to be delivered in July 2029.
According to shipbrokers, the order comes from Lavinia Tankers, a Greek shipowner led by Panos Laskaridis. This brings the total number of Suezmax tankers ordered by the shipowner this year to four, with the first three to be announced in January 2026 (two vessels) and March 2026 (one vessel), respectively. The total price for the four vessels is nearly $360 million.
With the latest orders, DH Shipbuilding has signed contracts for 13 new vessels this year, exceeding its annual order target in the first quarter of 2026. The company stated, “Currently, shipyard production is scheduled until the end of 2029, and the company will continue to implement an order selection strategy focused on high value-added vessels to improve profitability.”
Currently, all four new vessels built by DH Shipbuilding are listed in the fleet data on Lavinia Tankers’ official website, highlighting the company’s strategic plan to continuously expand its tanker transportation business.
It is understood that Lavinia Tankers began its foray into the MR product tanker transportation sector about two years ago, when it ordered three new vessels from a Chinese shipyard. Two of them, the “Saronic Wind” and the “Parian Trader,” have already been delivered, while the “Baltic Champion” is expected to be delivered later in 2026.
Currently, Lavinia Tankers operates a fleet of 14 tankers, consisting of medium-sized oil tankers and small liquid cargo ships, and has 5 vessels under construction. The company is a tanker subsidiary of the Laskaridis Shipping/Lavinia Group, with operations covering bulk carriers, oil tankers, and refrigerated vessels.