Two days, 10 vessels secured! Hengli Heavy Industry's oil tanker orders surge across the board.

On the evening of November 18, Guangdong Songfa Ceramics Co., Ltd. announced that two 306,000-ton deadweight VLCC construction contracts with its subsidiary, Hengli Shipbuilding (Dalian) Co., Ltd., were recently signed and have come into effect.

The announcement revealed that the counterparty in this contract is a well-known European shipowner. In accordance with the agreement between the shipowner and Hengli Shipbuilding, as well as the relevant provisions of the "Regulations on the Temporary Suspension and Exemption of Information Disclosure by Listed Companies," specific details about the shipowner are exempted from disclosure. The total contract value amounts to approximately US$200–300 million (equivalent to RMB 1.422–2.132 billion), and the new vessels are scheduled for delivery in the first half of 2028.

For reference, Clarkson's data shows that the current price of a newbuild VLCC with a deadweight tonnage of 315,000 to 320,000 tons is approximately US$126 million (about RMB 897 million), slightly down from US$129 million during the same period last year.

The 306,000-ton VLCCs signed in this agreement represent the internationally mainstream large-scale crude oil tanker design, featuring high cargo capacity, strong endurance, and exceptional operational efficiency. These vessels have been carefully engineered to balance route adaptability with loading flexibility, enabling them to efficiently interface with handling equipment at major global crude oil ports. They are ideally suited for long-distance, transoceanic crude oil transportation as well as large-scale shipments from offshore oilfields directly to refineries. This new class of tankers aligns seamlessly with the latest international tanker design concepts, addressing the current demands of the global shipping market for scalable, low-carbon shipping solutions.

This is Hengli Heavy Industry’s second VLCC order this week. Just one day earlier, on the evening of November 17, Songfa Shares announced that the construction contracts for two 306,000-ton deadweight VLCCs and six 114,000-ton crude oil/product oil tankers at Hengli Shipbuilding (Dalian) had officially come into effect.

It is understood that Hengli Heavy Industry's predecessor, STX Dalian, was once China's largest foreign-invested shipyard, boasting the largest single-site shipyard in Northern China. In 2022, responding to the nation's call, Hengli Group established Hengli Heavy Industry Group and invested 2.11 billion yuan to successfully bid for and acquire the long-idled assets of the former STX Dalian, which had remained unused for a decade. The company is now fully committed to building a world-class, high-end shipbuilding base. In January 2023, Hengli Heavy Industry’s Phase I "Ocean Factory" achieved full operational capacity in just 150 days. This past January, its Phase II project—the "Future Factory"—was brought online within five months. And this September, the groundbreaking ceremony for Hengli Heavy Industry’s collaborative innovation initiative and the Offshore Engineering Technology Industrial Park officially commenced on Dalian’s Changxing Island.

As of now, Hengli Heavy Industry has commenced construction on more than 60 vessels, with an order book totaling approximately 170 ships and production scheduled through 2029. Once the entire Hengli Heavy Industry project series reaches full capacity, it will be capable of building over 150 ultra-large vessels annually, as well as producing 180 marine engines—including G95 main engines and models below—while achieving comprehensive coverage for four types of dual-fuel systems: LNG, LPG, methanol, and ammonia. This will position Hengli Heavy Industry as the world’s largest single-site shipbuilding base with the most complete supporting infrastructure.