COSCO in for six VLCC newbuilds at Dalian 

COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation (CSET) is swelling its VLCC fleet with six newbuilds at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co (DSIC).

The listed oil and gas shipping arm of COSCO Shipping Group will invest RMB5.748bn ($795m) in 307,000 dwt units via its subsidiary Hainan Energy.

COSCO’s energy shipping arm sports a fleet of over 150 crude and product tankers and has stakes in some 70 LNG carriers. In September, the company also signed up for two 175,000 cu m LNG vessels at DSIC worth around $254.6m each. Estimated delivery dates for the VLCC series costing about $132.5m apiece have not been disclosed.

COSCO Shipping has made several newbuilding headlines in various segments this year. Early in 2024, six tankers were booked at COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry, which was followed by a dozen 14,000 teu containerships, eight newcastlemax bulk carriers, and the company’s largest shipbuilding order for 42 bulker newbuilds worth more than $2bn in aggregate.