Chinese shipbuilding giant China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) has won a deal for the construction of twelve dual-fuel tankers.
The order was booked by Bank of Communications Financial Leasing (Bocomm Leasing) which has secured charters for the newbuilds from the energy major Shell.
Shell will charter the 120,000-ton dual fuel LR2 tankers for seven years following their delivery.
The investment is worth whopping 4.6 billion yuan ($657 million) and comes at a very difficult time for the shipbuilding sector which has seen orders dwindle due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Four ships from the batch will be built by CSSC’s shipbuilding arm Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, and the remaining 8 by Guangzhou Shipbuilding International.
The ships will feature an optimized version of the LNG-powered LRII dual-fuel oil tanker design, developed by the two shipbuilders, and will exceed the IMO TIER III emissions standard, CSSC said announcing the deal.
They are scheduled to be completed and delivered in 2023.
The signing ceremony took place at three different places at the same time and was conducted digitally. The signatories were China Shipbuilding Trading, Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, Guangzhou shipyard International and Bank of Communications Financial Leasing.