On June 3, Hengli Heavy Industries announced that it had secured a contract for 21+4 new vessels during the 2026 International Maritime Exhibition in Greece, and details of another shipowner and order have been made public.
Market sources report that Aegean Shipping Management, a Greek shipping company owned by George Melissanidis, has placed an order with Hengli Heavy Industry for two 306,000 DWT Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) and two LR2/Aframax tankers. Neither the transaction price nor the delivery schedule has been disclosed. The shipping company confirmed that the order was signed during the International Maritime Exhibition in Greece.
Aegean Shipping stated that this investment in four new Type 2 vessels is part of its strategic plan to renew and expand its medium- to long-term fleet. The order, which includes two VLCCs, marks the company’s first foray into the very large crude carrier market. The company plans to use this investment to expand its tanker portfolio, having previously focused primarily on small- and medium-sized crude and product tankers.
With the addition of these four new vessels, Aegean Shipping’s fleet will grow to a total of 22 vessels, consisting of 16 tankers and 6 bulk carriers. The fleet currently has an average age of approximately three years, making Aegean Shipping one of the Greek shipping companies with the youngest fleets. Over the next six months, Aegean Shipping plans to take delivery of four LR2/Aframax tankers, all of which have been chartered on long-term contracts with commodities giant Vitol.
It is worth noting that this agreement makes Hengli Heavy Industries one of Aegean Shipping’s new partner shipyards; previously, the shipping company’s newbuild projects were primarily constructed by shipyards under COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry.
To date, details regarding three of the 21+4 new vessels announced by Hengli Heavy Industries earlier this month have been made public. Additionally, CMA CGM has ordered six 6,000-TEU container ships, while Venergy Maritime—a subsidiary of Greece’s Vyron Vasileiadis Group—has ordered 2+2 158,000 DWT Suezmax oil tankers.