Venergy Maritime, a subsidiary of Greek shipowner Vyron Vasileiadis, has exercised the option in the October contract to add two 306,000-dwt VLCCs to Hengli Heavy Industry, increasing its first batch of very large tanker orders from the Chinese shipyard from two to four, all scheduled for delivery in 2029. The shipowner's new shipbuilding plan has thus expanded to 26 oil tankers, covering MR2, LR2, Suezmax and VLCC are in the fourth gear; if the eight 1,900TEU container ships ordered by affiliated company OceanV Maritime in Huangpu Wenchong are included, the group has 34 ships under construction. The cooperation between Venergy and Hengli began with the purchase of two Suezmax ships in June this year (including options for two ships, confirmed in September), and currently Hengli alone has confirmed orders for eight ships; the company said it has committed more than US$2 billion for fleet expansion in about 16 months.
Danish Ship Finance's latest "Shipping Market Review" estimates that the global shipbuilding order book has expanded 3.5x since 2020, while shipyard production capacity has only increased by 30%, the order coverage period has increased from 1.4 years to 3.7 years, and the order book on hand is equivalent to 19% of the active fleet (six years ago: 7%). The bank quoted Clarkson data: The global order book has reached a record 226.1 million revised gross tons (CGT), exceeding the old peak of 225.5 million CGT in September 2008, with a total value of approximately US$700 billion, of which Chinese shipyards accounted for 68%. The report stated that although the output of active shipyards increased by 69% in six years, and the capacity utilization rate reached 86%, the annual orders received by shipyards since 2021 are still higher than the delivery volume; the best-performing shipyard's available production capacity in 2028 has been booked to 164%, According to historical rules, about 78% of the tonnage can be delivered on time, about one-sixth slips into subsequent years, and about 5% is canceled. The bank estimates that 10 million to 11 million CGT of planned deliveries may be delayed each year from 2027 to 2028.
Nippon Yusen Kaisha, Kawasaki Kisen, Imabari Shipbuilding, Asahi Shipbuilding, Shinkorijima Shipyard, Japan Marine Yard and JERA jointly announced on October 27 that they will build an integrated ammonia fuel supply chain in central Japan: JERA is responsible for purchasing green ammonia, mainly produced in India, and building a new shipping facility at the ammonia receiving base adjacent to the Hinan Thermal Power Plant; Asahi Shipbuilding builds a dedicated ammonia bunkering ship (planned to be completed in 2030, Owned and operated by Nippon Yusen Line or its wholly-owned subsidiary); Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Nippon Yusen Line each set up a fuel sales joint venture with half of the shares to supply fuel on a ship-to-ship (STS) basis. Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha and Nippon Yusen Line will each invest in 2 ammonia fuel car carriers, totaling 4 ammonia fuel car carriers. After completion in 2030, they will be used for vehicle transportation, mainly Toyota. The Japanese side claims that this is Japan's first ammonia fuel car carrier, and it is also the first time in the world to purchase fuel. Regional oil supply facilities and ship operations are integrated into a commercial supply chain; the ship is equipped with an ammonia dual-fuel main engine, and the fuel tank capacity can support ammonia navigation throughout the Pacific route.
The 95.3 thousand-dwt coal carrier "MAIZURU KAZENOMAI" built by Mitsui Lines for Kansai Electric Power Co., Ltd. was named and delivered at Oshima Shipbuilding on October 28. It will be used for coal transportation at Kansai Electric Power Co., Ltd. Maizuru Power Plant. The ship is the first coal ship in Japan to be equipped with both a hard-wing sail-type wind propulsion device "Wind Challenger" and an LNG dual-fuel main engine. It is 234.98 meters long and 38 meters wide. Flying the flag of Liberia; MOL said that with LNG fuel and sail boost, its CO₂ emissions are expected to be reduced by up to about 30% compared to traditional fuel ships, while reducing SOx and NOx emissions. The company plans to invest in 25 sail booster ships by 2030 and increase to 80 ships by 2035.
American tanker company International Seaways (NYSE: INSW) released third-quarter results on November 5: net profit of US$344 million, US$6.90 per diluted share, including US$53 million in proceeds from the sale of a 2012-built Suezmax vessel (the ship’s net selling price was US$74 million); adjusted net profit of US$291 million, US$5.84 per share, adjusted EBITDA of US$345 million, free cash flow of US$234 million US dollars. The company announced a dividend of US$5.05 per share, which is the same as the record set in the previous quarter. It is the fourth consecutive quarter in which the dividend payout rate is no less than 85% of adjusted net profit; the cumulative dividend payout in the past 12 months is US$16.80 per share, corresponding to a dividend rate of approximately 22%. In terms of fleet, the company acquired Bruton and its 4 VLCC newbuildings for approximately 3 million shares and cash, and has received 2 LR1 newbuildings. (The other four ships are expected to be delivered in the second half of 2028). As of September 30, the company's liquidity was approximately US$964 million, and the net loan-to-value ratio was less than 6%.
Drewry's assessment on November 5th showed that the World Container Freight Index (WCI) fell 1% month-on-month to US$4,389/40-foot container, with the decrease mainly coming from the trans-Pacific and Asia-Europe routes. In terms of routes, Shanghai-New York fell 3% to US$9,303, Shanghai-Los Angeles remained unchanged at US$7,539; Shanghai-Rotterdam fell 2% to US$3,615, and Shanghai-Genoa remained flat at US$4,166. Drewry said that congestion at China's major ports has begun to ease, and the average waiting time for ships in Shanghai improved to 35 hours last week; the company counted 3 empty sailings announced next week, down from 5 this week, which has increased effective shipping capacity. It is expected that freight rates will remain under pressure and continue to decline next week. Carriers are trying to push up FAK freight rates in mid-November to secure positions for long-term contract negotiations next year.
Ningbo Zhoushan Port (601018) announced on November 7 that it plans to participate in the bidding for the 8.91% equity of Xinda Resources (990 thousand shares, base price 923.715 million yuan) listed on the China-Latin America Cooperation Fund SPV through the public delisting method through its overseas wholly-owned subsidiary Zhejiang Seaport (Singapore) and the 1.82% equity (202.02 thousand shares, listed on the China-Portugal Cooperation Development Fund SPV). The base price is 188.651 million yuan), totaling 10.73%, thus indirectly holding 10.73% of TCP's shares. Its hinterland's GDP accounts for more than 40% of Brazil's total. China Merchants Port Holdings holds 77.45% of Xinda's equity and has given up its right of first refusal. This transaction constitutes a related transaction but does not constitute a major asset restructuring and does not need to be submitted to the shareholders' meeting for review; the final transaction price is determined by the Beijing Equity Exchange's auction, and there is still uncertainty as to whether the transaction can be concluded.