COSCO Shipping Bulk to expand roster with ammonia/methanol-ready quartet

COSCO Shipping Bulk, a subsidiary of China’s state-owned maritime transport giant COSCO Shipping, has tapped compatriot Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC), an arm of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), for the construction of at least four clean fuel-ready bulk carriers.

Per information released by Greece-based shipbroker Intermodal, COSCO Shipping Bulk has also left room to exercise an option for ten more bulkers at DSIC. All vessels are to feature a deadweight tonnage of 210,000. Deliveries are planned to commence sometime in 2028.

As informed, COSCO’s subsidiary is to cash out $77 million for each of the units, bringing the total value of the contract signed for the initial quartet to $308 million. Should the company end up confirming the bookings for all fourteen ships, that number would rise to a whopping $1.08 billion.

Per Intermodal, the bulk carriers will be handed over fitted with engines capable of being converted to run on ammonia and/or methanol, two emerging alternative fuels on which many maritime stakeholders have placed bets in recent times.

Owing to these specifications, the vessels are projected to be able to significantly minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) as well as other harmful pollutant emissions, including nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx) and particulate matter (PM).

As per late 2024 data, COSCO Shipping Bulk, at present, operates around 500 vessels, while its parent company, COSCO Shipping, owns a much larger total fleet of over 1,500 units. Since December last year, the company has placed firm orders for at least nine bulk carriers, all with the capability to be retrofitted to run on ammonia and/or methanol.

At the end of December 2024, COSCO Shipping Bulk and Yangzhou COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry ordered three 210,000-ton bulkers with an option for five more that are to be deployed between 2027 and 2028. In May this year, the former company booked another duo of such units at CSSC’s arm Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding.

What is more, in August, Qingdao Beihai was commissioned to construct four more ammonia/methanol-ready ships for COSCO Shipping Bulk, with handover dates due in 2027.