The vessels will be constructed by China Merchants
Jinling Shipyard and are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of
2026. The two tankers have
already been chartered for 10 years upon delivery from the shipyard to an
unnamed client, only described as a “strong counterparty”.
The bitumen tankers,
which are mainly used to carry asphalt at a temperature of 250 degrees, will
have dual-fuel green methanol engines ready to be retrofitted for future
operation on ammonia.
The Saverys
family-controlled company said that the 17,000 dwt newbuilds would be twice the
8,000-tonne average of the existing 230 vessel-strong worldwide bitumen tanker
fleet.
The group recently announced two time charter
contracts with Valero in December 2023. Earlier this year, CMB.TECH and Euronav announced
the construction of the world’s first ammonia-fuelled containership in
partnership with NCL and Yara. With the addition of the charters for the two
new bitumen tanker charters, the total contract backlog of Euronav amounts to
$1.97bn.
Tags: Bitumen, Chinese Shipyard, dualfuel