Chinese
Source: International Ship Network
Greek shipping company Thenamaris returns to the market for new construction of Suezmax oil tankers, signing its first order in ten years with Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding.
According to Trade Wind News, Thenamaris has placed an order for two 158000 deadweight ton Suezmax crude oil ships at Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. The new ships will be equipped with desulfurization devices and are scheduled to be delivered in early 2028. The estimated cost of each new ship is about 81 million US dollars, and the total amount of the two ships will reach 162 million US dollars (approximately 1.154 billion yuan).
As a reference, Clarkson's data shows that the current price for a newly built 156000-158000 deadweight ton Aframax oil tanker is about $85 million, a decrease of about 5% compared to $9000 in the same period last year.
Industry insiders say that Thenamaris initially approached South Korean shipping companies, but due to Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding's ability to offer earlier delivery dates and more competitive prices, Thenamaris ultimately chose to place an order with Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. It is reported that the South Korean shipping company offered a price of over 84 million US dollars per ship at that time.
Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding is not unfamiliar to Thenamaris. The company ordered six LR2 product oil tankers from Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding in 2023, and these new ships were delivered for operation this year at a cost of approximately $63.5 million each.
The latest order is Thenamaris' first order for a Suezmax oil tanker in the past decade. It is understood that the last time Thenamaris ordered a Suezmax class vessel dates back to 2015. At that time, it ordered two 158600 deadweight ton Suezmax class crude oil vessels from HD Hyundai Sanhu in South Korea, with a cost of approximately $65 million each. These two vessels were delivered in 2018 and named "Seavision" and "Seawiolet" respectively.
According to official website data, Thenamaris currently has a fleet of 91 vessels, including 51 oil tankers, 24 bulk carriers, 8 LNG carriers, 6 LPG carriers, and 2 container ships. Among them, the company's existing 7 Suezmax crude oil ships are all built by South Korean shipping companies.
Since the beginning of this year, due to strong freight rates, there has been a strong demand for new orders for Suezmax crude oil ships. According to Clarkson's data, the number of new orders for Suezmax crude oil ships worldwide has reached 50 so far this year, exceeding the 47 orders for the entire year of last year. At the same time, the proportion of orders held by Suezmax vessels in the existing fleet is 19.57%, still below 20%.
Ralph Leszczynski, research director at Banchero Costa, stated that among the 613 existing Suezmax crude oil vessels worldwide, 20% are over 20 years old, 22% are between 15 and 19 years old, and only 14% are under 5 years old.
Excluding the latest order from Thenamaris, Clarkson's data shows that Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding currently holds a total of 79 orders with a deadweight tonnage of 10.29 million, including 46 container ships, 20 oil tankers, 10 car transport ships, 1 cruise ship, and 2 floating production storage and offloading oil tankers (FPSOs), with delivery scheduled until 2029.