Chinese companies ICBC Financial Leasing and China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) have formed a joint venture to order six very large ore carriers (VLOCs).
The parties informed that they would spend around USD 69.5 million per ship, totalling USD 417 million for the batch, of which USD 125.1 million would be from CMES.
The joint venture, in which CMES will hold a 30 percent share, would own the new 325,000 dwt units.
China Merchants Energy Shipping and ICBC started working together in the field of very large ore carriers back in 2016.
The units were ordered to serve a long-term transport agreement signed in April 2016 with Brazilian mining giant Vale.
Under the contract of affreightment (COA), which spans over a 27-year period, ICBC is to transport about 16 million tons of iron ore annually for Vale from Brazil to China starting from the first half of 2018.
World Maritime News Staff