Japanese shipowner Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) is betting on more LNG dual-fuel VLCC newbuilds.
The largest shipping company in Japan in dwt terms has signed for two firm 309,000 dwt tankers at Dalian COSCO KHI Ship Engineering (DACKS) in a deal worth $260m.
Last August, MOL became the first Japanese company to order LNG-fuelled VLCCs. The MOL order was also the first confirmed for VLCCs since June 2021 that brought to an end a record ordering drought for the supertanker sector.
The shipping giant has 21 VLCCs in its fleet with now four more units set to deliver from DACKS between 2025 and 2026.
Ralph Leszczynski, head of research at brokers Banchero Costa said the contracts reflected fresh interest in the ship type at a time when the orderbook was slim. “The orderbook for VLCCs is very small. As of June, there were only about 15 units on order,” said Leszczynski. “This is less than 1.5% of the current trading fleet, whilst 13% of the fleet is currently over 20 years old.”
