Another 4 ships! 70 ships in 3 years! This 'new shipyard' ushers in a harvest season.

Less than three years after its establishment, the joint venture shipyard has delivered nearly 30 vessels and holds orders for more than 39. The collaboration between Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group, China's largest privately-owned shipbuilding company, and Mitsui & Co., Japan's largest trading company, is reaping rewards.

It is understood that Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding, a joint venture between Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group and Mitsui of Japan, recently received an order for four 66,000-dwt bulk carriers. This marks the first time Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding has participated in Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding's marketing activities. According to sources, the order comes from the Singaporean company JALDHI OVERSEAS, which belongs to an Indian shipper. The new vessels will adopt Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding's "neo66BC" design, a wide-body, shallow-draft 66,000-dwt bulk carrier from Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding's "neo series" (66 type) of environmentally friendly, low-fuel-consumption vessels. Delivery is expected between the second half of 2024 and the first half of 2025.

Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding first signed a drawing supply agreement with Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding at the end of 2020, providing drawings for its 66-type bulk carriers and receiving licensing fees for the construction of related vessels. According to the agreement, Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding receives a licensing fee for each bulk carrier built by Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding.

This latest order is the third time Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding has undertaken an order for vessels designed by Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding. Previously, Meghna Group of Bangladesh ordered four 66,000-dwt bulk carriers in January 2021, and a Japanese shipowner ordered another four 66,000-dwt bulk carriers in July this year. However, until now, sales of these new vessel orders have been handled through trading companies and shipbrokers. The JALDHI order is the first project where Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding is responsible for sales in addition to providing design drawings.

JALDHI currently owns and operates two 66,000-dwt bulk carriers built by Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding, the "Jal Kalpavriksh" and "Jal Kalpataru," delivered last year. The "Jal Kalpataru," delivered last July, was the last merchant ship delivered by Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding.

JALDHI evaluated the performance of these two vessels in actual sea conditions. Their wide-body, shallow-draft design allows them to carry large quantities of cargo even in shallow Indian ports. JALDHI's positive experience led to this additional order with Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding, resulting in the order for Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding.

Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding is a joint venture established by Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of Mitsui E&S Holdings, Mitsui & Co., and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group. It officially opened and commenced operations in October 2019. Due to Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding's decision to completely withdraw from the shipbuilding market, its merchant ship business and subsequent orders were transferred to Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding and its Japanese partner, Tsuneishi Shipbuilding.

Yangzi Mitsui adheres to its position of designing and building high-end and sophisticated vessels. It integrates the resource advantages of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group's technology center, the advanced design concepts of Mitsui E&S Shipbuilding, and the R&D capabilities of the Showa Island Laboratory for hull lines and performance optimization, forming a complete design system from conceptual design to production design. Currently, Yangzi Mitsui can build various merchant ships under 100,000 tons.

Since its establishment, Yangzi Mitsui has fully leveraged its three core competitive advantages: advanced design and R&D, Mitsui Shipbuilding's quality standards, and Yangzijiang Shipbuilding's cost control. It has vigorously implemented an internationalization strategy, increasing its vessel deliveries from 7 in 2020 and 11 in 2021 to a planned 15 in 2022, effectively releasing and enhancing its production capacity.

In addition to bulk carriers, Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding received its first order in June last year for three 40,000-cubic-meter dual-fuel LPG/ammonia carriers from a German shipowner. This year, it also received an order for two 36,000-cubic-meter dual-fuel liquefied ethylene (LEG) carriers from a Norwegian shipowner. In the future, Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding plans to focus on tankers, chemical carriers, and high-tech, high-value-added clean energy vessels such as LNG, LEG, and LPG carriers, aiming to become a major production base for "large-scale green clean energy vessels."

According to International Ship Network, since commencing operations in May 2019, Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding has delivered nearly 30 vessels of various types, the majority of which are bulk carriers. According to Clarkson data, Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding currently has orders for a total of 35 vessels with 2.3891 million DWT. Apart from three LPG carriers and two LEG carriers, the remaining 30 are bulk carriers. With this latest order, Yangzi Mitsui Shipbuilding's total order backlog reaches 39 vessels, with production scheduled at full capacity until 2025.