Eight vessels worth over 4 billion! China’s “rising star” in shipbuilding secures another order from Norway’s shipping magnate.

Seatankers Management, a subsidiary of Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen, has placed an additional order with Dajin Heavy Industries for two 211,000-dwt Newcastlemax bulk carriers.

According to TradeWinds, Seatankers has now increased its total order for Newcastlemax bulk carriers from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to eight vessels, with a combined investment of approximately US$594 million (about RMB 4.022 billion). Previously, Daewoo had publicly disclosed the first six orders; the initial four were announced in April this year, and on May 31, the shipyard announced another two bulk carrier contracts with the Norwegian shipowner.

These new vessels are scheduled for delivery between the second half of 2028 and 2029. Notably, the first four ships in this series were built at a cost of approximately US$73.5 million each, while the subsequent four saw a US$1.5 million increase—equivalent to roughly RMB 10.1572 million—bringing the unit price to US$75 million.

Industry insiders attribute the price increase to robust demand for newbuildings and fully loaded order books at major shipyards. For context, Clarkson data show that the current price of a 210,000–212,000‑dwt Newcastlemax bulk carrier stands at US$78.5 million (approximately RMB 531 million), slightly above last year’s US$77 million.

In recent years, Seatankers has frequently placed orders with Chinese shipbuilders for large bulk carriers and VLCCs. According to Clarkson’s data, Seatankers currently has 32 newbuildings under construction, including six Newcastlemax‑class bulk carriers each from Dajin Heavy Industry and China Merchants Shipbuilding Qingdao Shipyard, eight VLCCs from Dalian Shipbuilding, two VLCCs from Hengli Heavy Industry, six Suezmax tankers from New Times Shipbuilding, and four offshore vessels—two from Wuchang Shipbuilding and two from Zhoushan Pacific Offshore Engineering.

With the addition of Seatankers’ latest two vessels, Dajin Heavy Industries has now secured orders for 16 Newcastlemax bulk carriers this year—four for U.S.-listed Greek shipowner Danaos, eight for Seatankers, two for Greek shipowner Cape Shipping, and two for an anonymous Greek owner. These newbuilds represent the largest vessels Dajin has ever constructed and will be built at its Tangshan base, Tangshan Dajin Marine Engineering Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd.

In addition, in May this year, Dajin Heavy Industry signed contracts with the renowned Dutch shipowner JUMBO Marine for the construction of two next-generation, green, intelligent multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels, each with a deadweight of 25,000 tons.

According to publicly disclosed data from Dajin Heavy Industry, the company’s current backlog of shipbuilding orders exceeds RMB 8.8 billion and is scheduled for phased delivery between 2027 and 2029.

According to available information, Dajin Heavy Industry was founded in 2000 and listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange’s main board in 2010, becoming the first publicly traded company in China’s wind turbine tower industry. After two decades of dedicated industry expertise, Dajin Heavy Industry has firmly established itself among the global pioneers in wind power equipment manufacturing. The company’s principal product lines include a full range of offshore and onshore wind turbine towers, transition sections, foundation sections, large-diameter tubular piles, deep-water jacket foundations, floating foundations, and offshore substation platforms.

At present, Dajin Heavy Industry’s products and services are expanding beyond the manufacturing of offshore wind‑farm foundations to encompass deep‑water specialized transportation, ship design and construction, and wind‑farm hub operations. The company is also actively developing and deploying new‑energy development and operation businesses, thereby achieving a strategic transformation from a product supplier to a full‑system service provider, and meeting customers’ one‑stop, diversified needs.

Excluding the latest order, Clarkson’s data show that Dajin Heavy Industries currently holds a total of 21 vessels amounting to 3.231 million deadweight tons, including 14 bulk carriers, 2 heavy-lift vessels, and 5 deck cargo ships, with delivery schedules extending through 2029.