CMES' Newbuilds Said to Be 20% More Fuel Efficient than VLCCs Built in 2009-2011

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday December 17, 2015

China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) has placed an order for four newbuild 308,000 DWT "eco-friendly" Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), which the company says will be 20 percent more efficient than equivalent vessels built in 2009 to 2011, Seatrade Maritime reports.

The VLCCs are reported to cost $88 million each, and are slated for delivery beginning in December 2018.

"The company expects that the new VLCCs ordered today would consume 20 percent less fuel compared to the VLCCs built in 2009-2011," stated CMES.

Two of the four vessels will be built by Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering (Nacks), while the remaining two will be constructed by Dalian Cosco KHI Ship Engineering (Dacks).

The order for the four VLCCs is reported to come as part of a CMES plan to acquire 10 newbuild eco-friendly VLCCs, which was announced last week.

As of December 4, CMES is said to own a fleet of 34 VLCCs, with a total of 19 newbuild VLCCs on the orderbooks, including 10 units that were recently announced.

While the tanker segment has been enjoying a particularly buoyant year, earlier this month, Ship & Bunker reported that Drewry has predicted that tanker shipping rates will decline in 2016, with the arrival of newbuilds along with decreased utilisation as floating storage the key drivers for declining rates.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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