Nikolas Martinos’ Greek shipping giant Thenamaris is rapidly expanding its presence in the LR2 and MR2 product tanker segments.
According to The Trade Winds, during the 2026 Greek International Maritime Exhibition, Thenamaris finalized shipbuilding contracts with several shipbuilders and, after a 30-year hiatus, returned to Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (DSIC)—a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation—to order new vessels.
Market sources have revealed that Thenamaris has placed an order with Shanhaiguan Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd. (SHGSIC), a subsidiary of DSIC, for four LR2 product tankers, which are expected to be delivered in 2029.
Data shows that this order marks the first collaboration between Thenamaris and DSIC in 30 years, since the two parties signed their first shipbuilding contract in 1996. At that time, they had cooperated on the construction of multiple 95,000 DWT product tankers.
Recently, Thenamaris has been expanding its fleet of product tankers through newbuilding projects.
In May, Thenamaris placed an order for three LR2 product tankers with Hengli Heavy Industries, marking its first collaboration with a Chinese shipyard; the company’s previous orders had primarily been placed with shipyards in Japan and South Korea. The latest market reports indicate that the company has placed an additional order for one LR2 product tanker with Hengli Heavy Industries, bringing the total number of vessels in the collaboration to four.
Recently, Thenamaris has been expanding its fleet of product tankers through newbuilding projects.
In May, Thenamaris placed an order for three LR2 product tankers with Hengli Heavy Industries, marking its first collaboration with a Chinese shipyard; the company’s previous orders had primarily been placed with shipyards in Japan and South Korea. According to the latest market reports, the company has placed an additional order for one LR2 product tanker with Hengli Heavy Industries, bringing the total number of vessels in the collaboration to four.
On June 3, Hengli Heavy Industries announced that it had secured orders for a total of 21+4 new vessels during the 2026 International Maritime Exhibition in Greece. Based on the above information, this figure includes the additional orders from Thenamaris. Other shipowners for this batch of new vessels from Hengli Heavy Industries that have been publicly disclosed include: Aegean Shipping of Greece, with 2 VLCCs and 2 LR2 product tankers; 6 medium-sized container ships for France’s CMA CGM; and 2+2 Suezmax tankers for Greece’s Venergy Maritime.
Separate reports indicate that Thenamaris has also signed a contract with COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Guangdong) for the construction of 4 MR2 product tankers. This marks the shipyard’s first publicly announced newbuilding contract in the mainstream merchant shipping market this year.
As one of China’s largest ship repair yards, COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Guangdong) resumed its shipbuilding operations in 2024 and currently focuses on building product tankers and container ships. Its most recent commercial vessel order was placed in December 2025, consisting of five 50,000-ton MR product/crude oil tankers ordered by COSCO Shipping Energy.
With the announcement of this new project, Thenamaris has ordered a total of 12 product tankers from Chinese shipyards since May. Combined with the two Suezmax tankers ordered from Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding in November 2025 and the two 90,000-cubic-meter VLACs ordered from Jiangnan Shipyard in April 2026, the shipowner now has 16 new vessels of various types under construction at Chinese shipyards.
It is worth noting that prior to advancing this fleet expansion plan, Thenamaris had just completed a large-scale sale of vessels. Since early 2023, the company has sold 17 older tankers, with total proceeds from these transactions expected to reach $800 million.
Currently, Thenamaris operates a diversified fleet of approximately 100 vessels (including those under construction), including tankers, bulk carriers, liquefied gas carriers, container ships, and other vessel types.