Singapore-listed Yangzijiang Financial Holding has expanded its presence in shipowning with an order for MR tankers at Jingjiang Nanyang Shipbuilding.
The Ren Yuanlin-led investment firm is said to have contracted the Chinese shipyard to build four 50,000-dwt product tankers. The deal does not involve any optional vessels.
Shipbuilding sources said Yangzijiang Financial signed the contract on speculation last year, but the deal was never reported.
Jingjiang Nanyang is scheduled to deliver three vessels in 2026 and one in the first quarter of 2027.
Officials at Yangzijiang Financial were not available for comment.
A price has yet to emerge for the quartet. Sources said Yangzijiang Financial is paying less than $45m per ship.
The tankers, each featuring 12 cargo tanks plus two slop tanks, will be built to meet the International Maritime Organization’s Tier III emissions standards for NOx and Phase 3 of the Energy Efficiency Design Index regulation.
Brokers said Yangzijiang Financial has roped in the privately owned Scorpio Group of Monaco to oversee construction of the product carriers.
This is believed to be the second newbuilding project on which the two companies have teamed up.
The first involved two MR tankers ordered at parent company Yangzijiang Shipbuilding in 2023.
Sources said Yangzijiang Financial sold the pair of scrubber-fitted newbuildings to Thenamaris of Greece last year for $53m each.
Yangzijiang Shipbuilding recently delivered the first vessel — the 50,500-dwt SeaExplorer (built 2025). The second is due to roll out of the dry dock by the middle of this year.
Brokers said Yangzijiang Financial will not be operating the four Jingjiang Nanyang tanker newbuildings. It is planning to sell them.
First tanker deal for shipyard
Taizhou-based Jingjiang Nanyang Shipbuilding is a medium-size shipyard. It was established in 1995 and is equipped with one dry dock and four slipways.
It started off by constructing platform supply vessels and anchor-handling tug supply units before switching to cargo vessels.
The largest vessels that it has delivered were handymax bulkers.
Clarksons’ Shipping Intelligence Network shows Jingjiang Nanyang has 19 newbuildings on its orderbook, spanning four ultramax bulk carriers, two 25,000-dwt heavy-deck cargo ships and a number of anchor-handlers.
“Yangzijiang Financial’s newbuilding contract is the first MR tanker deal for the shipyard,” said one shipbuilding source.
