Following bulk carriers and container ships, the oil tanker sector also ushered in the first new order for ammonia dual-fuel ships, and this "world's first order" was once again received by Chinese shipyards.
On April 19, MISC Berhad announced that it has signed a time charter contract with PETCO Trading Labuan Company Ltd (PTLCL), the world's first ammonia dual-fuel Aframax tanker, through its tanker subsidiary AET, and PETCO Trading Labuan Company Ltd (PTLCL), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Petronas.
At the same time, AET also signed a contract with China State Shipbuilding Group Dalian Shipbuilding for the construction of the two 115,000 dwt Aframax oil tankers. MISC did not disclose the specific price and delivery time of the new ship, but according to foreign media sources, Dalian Shipbuilding will deliver the two new ships in the second half of 2027, and the ships will be equipped with ammonia dual-fuel engines provided by Winterthur Engine Co., Ltd. (WinGD), a Swiss marine power company under China Shipbuilding Group.
For reference, Clarkson data shows that the current price of a 113,000-115,000 dwt Aframax tanker is $72 million, an increase of 9% compared with $66 million in the same period last year.
So far, in the three major fields of bulk carriers, oil tankers and container ships, Chinese shipyards have won the "world's first" ammonia dual-fuel new ship orders. Among them, in the field of bulk carriers, Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding is currently building the world's first 210,000-ton ammonia dual-fuel bulk carrier for the Singapore shipping company Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) and the Belgian shipowner CMB.
In the field of container ships, in February this year, Qingdao Yangfan received the world's first ammonia-fueled container ship "Yara Eyde", a 1400TEU ice-class container ship jointly ordered by the Norwegian fertilizer company Yara International, Clean Shipping Group CMB.TECH and North Sea Container Line (NCL).
It is worth mentioning that AET's latest order is not only its first cooperation with Dalian Shipbuilding, but also the first time that MISC has ordered a dual-fuel vessel at a Chinese shipyard. According to Clarkson, MISC currently has 21 LNG dual-fuel carriers in its fleet, including nine tankers and 12 LNG carriers, in addition to six ethane dual-fuel very large ethane carriers (VLECs). The vast majority of these dual-fuel ships are built by South Korea's three major shipbuilders.
Among them, MISC's nine LNG dual-fuel tankers are all owned by AET, including three VLCCs built by Hanwha Marine (formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding), and two VLCCs, two shuttle tankers, and two Aframax tankers built by Samsung Heavy Industries.
It is worth mentioning that AET's two LNG dual-fuel VLCCs at Samsung Heavy Industries were delivered in 2022, which was one of the world's first LNG dual-fuel VLCCs at that time. The company is also the world's first shipowner to order LNG dual-fuel shuttle tankers, and signed a contract for the construction of two world's first LNG dual-fuel shuttle tankers at Samsung Heavy Industries in June 2017.
As a leader in the fuel transition in the tanker sector, AET has long been preparing to build ammonia dual-fuel tankers. In February 2023, AET signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with PTLCL to jointly develop and build future zero-emission ammonia-fueled Aframax tankers. As part of the partnership, AET will be responsible for selecting a suitable shipyard to build the zero-emission dual-fuel tanker, which will be operated by PTLCL on a long-term charter upon delivery.
MISC said the signing of the formal charterparty and construction contract now marks an important step forward in the partners' efforts to make ammonia a viable fuel for the maritime industry. Through these vessels, PTLCL will be able to transport its products to customers around the world while contributing to the decarbonization of the industry by utilizing ammonia as a clean alternative to traditional fuels.
Rajalingam Subramaniam, President and Group CEO of MISC, said, "Congratulations to AET and PTLCL on taking a substantial and important step since the signing of the MoU in February 2023. The cooperation with PTLCL, a member of the Malaysian National Oil Group, is more meaningful, and thanks to the participation of Dalian Shipbuilding. ”
"The Time Charterparty and Construction Contract signed today are a testament to our ambition to action. These partnerships align perfectly with our collective vision to drive meaningful, purposeful change on a global scale as we move towards a net-zero carbon future. With these contracts, we are not only advancing our sustainability practices, but also accelerating our progress towards MISC Group's 2030 decarbonization goals. ”
Zahid Osman, President and CEO of AET, said: "Today, we have demonstrated our commitment to decarbonize the shipping industry as an industry leader by signing the construction contract for the world's first two ammonia dual-fuel Aframax tankers with Dalian Shipbuilding and a time charter contract with PTLCL. The introduction of these two vessels will reduce the overall emissions of our operations, while also providing more energy to the world. I would like to thank PTLCL and Dalian Shipbuilding for their forward-thinking and collaboration in spearheading the launch of a new generation of ultra-low emission tankers to support the decarbonization of the maritime industry." ”
From the beginning of 2023, Dalian Shipbuilding has undertaken a total of 22 110,000-ton Aframax oil tankers, accounting for 23% of the market share in the same period, and 17 300,000-ton VLCCs, accounting for 51% of the market share in the same period, with a contract value of more than 23 billion yuan. At the same time, as the first ship assembly plant to deliver the first VLCC in China, Dalian Shipbuilding has delivered a total of 117 VLCCs to domestic and foreign shipowners so far, ranking first in the number of domestic shipyards delivered.
In the first quarter of this year, Dalian Shipbuilding has received a total of 15 billion yuan of oil tanker orders, including two well-known European shipowners, 6+2 conventional fuel VLCCs and 4+2 LNG dual-fuel VLCCs, as well as six 110,000-ton Aframax oil tankers. According to Clarkson's data, Dalian Shipbuilding Group's Aframax oil tankers currently hold a total of 25 orders, including 4 Dalian Shipbuilding and 21 Dalian Shipbuilding Mountain Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, ranking first in the world in total.
Up to now, Dalian Shipbuilding Group has a total of 99 orders of 12.94 million dwt, including 40 oil tankers, 23 bulk carriers, 16 container ships, 13 LNG carriers, 5 open hatch ships and 2 floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels, and the delivery schedule is scheduled until 2028.