Greek bulk carrier owner Veritas Ship Management has once again selected COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Zhoushan) for new vessel construction, extending the shipbuilding partnership established between the two parties in 2023.
Greek shipbrokers report that Veritas has ordered two 64,000 DWT Ultramax bulk carriers from the yard, with delivery scheduled for 2030; the contract value has not been disclosed.
For reference, shipbrokers estimate the current cost of building a standard Ultramax bulk carrier at Chinese shipyards to be approximately $36 million per vessel, placing the total cost for Veritas’s two new ships at around $72 million.
Veritas’s collaboration with COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Zhoushan) began three years ago. In 2023, the shipyard announced the signing—via a virtual ceremony—of contracts to build four 63,600 DWT bulk carriers; market disclosures later revealed Veritas as the shipowner, and the vessels are currently under construction.
Veritas is not particularly active in the newbuilding market; prior to the COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Zhoushan) order, its last recorded newbuilding activity was in 2024, involving an order for two 82,000 DWT Kamsarmax bulk carriers from Hengli Heavy Industries.
According to fleet data from the official website, Veritas currently operates five bulk carriers. The two most recently acquired vessels—the “Axion Esti” (delivered in 2025) and the “Pantokrator” (delivered in 2026)—were both built by shipyards under COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry; both are 63,928 DWT bulk carriers. The remaining three vessels are older ships: the “Legend I” (built in 2010), the “Supreme Valor” (built in 2011), and the “Cornelia M” (built in 2012).
Regarding shipyard activity, COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Zhoushan) has publicly announced nine new shipbuilding projects this year. In addition to the latest orders, these include one shuttle tanker for Norway’s KNOT and six feeder container ships for COSCO SHIPPING Holdings.