20 ships, 4 billion yuan! This Chinese shipyard makes a strong comeback by winning a large contract.

After a three-year hiatus, Nantong Xiangyu Offshore, once hailed as "China's best chemical tanker shipyard," made a strong comeback this year, successfully securing a major order for 20 chemical tankers worth nearly 4 billion yuan.

According to Tradewinds, Belgian shipowner CMB.TECH will order 10 x 5,300 DWT and 10 x 15,000 DWT stainless steel chemical tankers from Xiangyu Offshore. The 5,300 DWT chemical tankers will cost at least $15 million each, and the 15,000 DWT chemical tankers will cost nearly $40 million each. By this calculation, the total transaction amount will reach $550 million (approximately 3.97 billion RMB).

Sources say these new vessels will operate on traditional fuels but will feature ammonia-ready designs. Upon delivery, the new vessels will be chartered to ExxonMobil for operation between the UK and ARA (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp), with the charter rate and period yet to be determined.

It is understood that CMB.TECH is the green technology division of the Belgian maritime group Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB). Earlier this year, it merged with tanker owner Euronav, with the new company name being CMB.TECH, and Euronav serving as the brand name for the tanker division. Currently, CMB.TECH has become a diversified shipping company with over 150 vessels, covering bulk carriers, container ships, chemical tankers, oil tankers, and offshore wind vessels.

CMB.TECH is committed to becoming a benchmark for sustainable shipping globally, developing low-carbon solutions across all vessel segments, with a focus on large vessels and industrial applications powered by hydrogen or ammonia. CMB.TECH is not only a user of clean fuels but also produces, distributes, and transports hydrogen and ammonia, playing an indispensable role in the low-carbon fuel sector.

Official website data shows that CMB.TECH's fleet currently includes 8 small chemical tankers, operated under its Bochem brand. All eight 25,000 DWT chemical tankers were built by China Merchants Industry Jinling Shipyard (Yangzhou). The first four were delivered in 2023 and earlier this year, with another four to be delivered this year and next; the first six vessels in this series are all chartered by STOLT TANKERS, the world's largest chemical tanker operator.

If Xiangyu Offshore's 20-vessel order is finalized, it will be CMB.TECH's largest newbuilding investment in the chemical tanker sector, and will more than triple the company's chemical tanker fleet size.

For Xiangyu Offshore, this latest order marks its first time building chemical tankers for CMB.TECH, and it is also the largest single chemical tanker order undertaken by Xiangyu Offshore.

Xiangyu Offshore re-entered the chemical tanker market in February this year, securing orders for 10 x 3,850 DWT stainless steel chemical tankers from German shipping company GEFO Shipping Group, and 6 x 38,000 DWT stainless steel chemical tankers from NYK Stolt Tankers (NST), a joint venture between Stolt Tankers (a subsidiary of Stolt-Nielsen, the world's largest chemical tanker owner) and Nippon Yusen Kaisha.

Not long ago, GEFO also announced the signing of a construction contract with Xiangyu Offshore for 2+2 x 7,900 DWT 1A ice-class stainless steel chemical tankers.

Chemical tankers were once the main vessel type for Xiangyu Offshore. Its predecessor, Nantong Mingde Heavy Industry, was even known as "China's best chemical tanker shipyard," and before its bankruptcy, Mingde Heavy Industry's backlog of chemical tanker orders once ranked first globally. However, since the order for one 9,199 DWT chemical tanker from Shanghai Fengle Shipping in April 2021, all new vessel orders undertaken by Xiangyu Offshore in the past three years have been for bulk carriers, until this year when it resumed accepting chemical tanker orders.

It is understood that Xiangyu Offshore was jointly funded by Xiangyu Co., Ltd., Tongbao Shipping, and Zhonghai Heavy Industry, and established in December 2016. In January 2017, Xiangyu Offshore legally acquired all assets of Mingde Heavy Industry through an online judicial auction for 576 million yuan, becoming Mingde Heavy Industry's "new owner." In April of the same year, Xiangyu Offshore received an order for a 38,800 DWT stainless steel chemical tanker from Hong Kong shipowner Kinway Shipping. This new vessel commenced construction on May 11 of the same year, the day of Xiangyu Offshore's unveiling ceremony. At that time, Xiangyu Co., Ltd. stated that the unveiling and commencement of operations at Xiangyu Offshore marked Xiangyu Co., Ltd.'s full involvement in the chemical vessel manufacturing industry chain, further extending and expanding the company's supply chain service system.

Xiangyu Offshore's largest shareholder, Xiangyu Co., Ltd., is affiliated with Xiamen Xiangyu Group, a state-owned enterprise. Xiangyu Group was established on November 28, 1995. It owns over 500 investment enterprises, had a revenue of 562.6 billion yuan in 2022, and employs over 34,000 people. The Group's businesses cover bulk commodity supply chain, urban development and operation, comprehensive financial services, port and shipping, innovation incubation, etc., striving to become a globally competitive, supply chain-centric comprehensive investment holding group. In 2023, Xiangyu Group ranked 142nd on the Fortune Global 500 list with revenue of $83.639 billion, an increase of 18 places from 2022, marking its sixth consecutive year on the list with its ranking improving annually.

According to Clarkson's data, as of now, Xiangyu Offshore's order backlog totals 79 vessels with a combined DWT of 4.263 million, including 61 bulk carriers and 18 chemical tankers, with delivery dates extending to 2029. In the chemical tanker sector, Xiangyu Offshore's order backlog ranks fourth globally, only trailing Wuhu Shipyard (41 vessels), Jinling Shipyard (Yangzhou) (39 vessels), and Wuchang Shipbuilding (21 vessels).