Chinese shipowner China Merchants Energy Shipping is seeking shareholder approval to invest up to CNY 4.93bn ($726m) in six 343,000-dwt VLOCs at affiliated shipyards, according to a Shanghai Stock Exchange filing.
Overseas single-ship companies to be formed by wholly owned subsidiaries would sign construction contracts with yards controlled by China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry Group.
The related-party transaction is scheduled for a vote at an extraordinary shareholder meeting on 28 July, with connected shareholders required to abstain.
The CNY 4.93bn figure is an investment ceiling rather than a fixed contract price, and the contracts would take effect only after signing and completion of both sides’ approval procedures.
The new-generation, energy-efficient and environmentally friendly ore carriers are due for phased delivery in 2029 and 2030. CMES plans to fund the programme with internal resources and external borrowing, with instalments payable in dollars and/or yuan as construction progresses. The vessels are intended for long-term contracts of affreightment.
CMES selected the affiliated builders after comparing delivery slots, pricing, specifications and payment terms with offers from independent yards, finding earlier availability and better overall commercial terms.
The programme would mark CMES’s return to large-scale VLOC construction more than a decade after a 2015 order for 10 ore carriers of about 400,000 dwt, delivered in 2018 and 2019.
CMES operates in tanker, gas, dry bulk, ro-ro and container shipping, with more than 360 vessels totalling over 50m dwt. China Merchants Shipbuilding Industry Group controls the yards selected for the work. China Merchants Group controls both CMES and the shipbuilding group, while China Merchants Steam Navigation Company is CMES’s controlling shareholder.