On August 14, Fujian Highton Development announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Haitong International, had signed a shipbuilding contract with Taizhou Kouan Shipbuilding for the construction of two 62,000 DWT multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels. The total contract value does not exceed 600 million yuan (approximately $89 million); based on this figure, the cost per vessel does not exceed 300 million yuan.
Highton Development stated that this transaction was a prudent decision made in light of the company’s operational and development needs. It will help further optimize the company’s fleet structure, expand the fleet’s scale, and support the global expansion of China’s advanced manufacturing sector. At the same time, it will effectively enhance the company’s competitiveness and market share, strengthen its profitability, and create greater value for shareholders, in line with the company’s future strategic plan.
So far this year, Highton Development has collaborated with Taizhou Kouan Shipbuilding on multiple occasions. Including this latest order, the two companies have signed contracts for 13 multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels with a total value of nearly 4 billion yuan. The remaining 11 vessels were announced in January and April 2026, respectively.
In January 2026, Highton Development signed a contract with Taizhou Kouan Shipbuilding for seven 60,800 DWT bow-steered multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels, with each vessel costing approximately 300 million yuan and the total cost amounting to approximately 2.1 billion yuan; In April, Highton Development signed a contract with Taizhou Kouan Shipbuilding for four 62,000 DWT multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels, with a total investment not exceeding 1.2 billion yuan and a construction cost per vessel not exceeding 300 million yuan.
According to publicly available information, Highton Development is primarily engaged in dry bulk shipping operations along China’s coastline and on international ocean routes. In terms of domestic coastal shipping, the company primarily transports coal while actively expanding its transportation services for other dry bulk cargoes such as ore and slag; in terms of international deep-sea shipping, the company operates routes covering more than 300 ports across more than 80 countries and regions, providing customers with maritime transportation services for a variety of cargoes, including ore, coal, grain, fertilizer, and general cargo.