Chinese shipbuilders snap up more supertanker orders as Iran war turmoil drags on
Industry data shows China’s shipyards secured 82 per cent of tanker orders placed this year, as measured by carrying capacity
Chinese shipbuilders, already commanding a firm grip on the global market, have emerged as beneficiaries as turbulence in the Middle East and volatile oil prices lead to more orders for supertankers.
Global operators are racing to place orders as their businesses are swept up by skyrocketing freight rates and geopolitical tidal waves, according to the latest data from the Baltic International Maritime Council (BIMCO), the world’s largest international shipping association, that was reported by IAA PortNews, a Russian media outlet. BIMCO data showed that orders for crude oil tankers had surged to a record of 234, totalling 60 million deadweight tons.
BIMCO said most of the orders were for very large crude carriers (VLCCs) for long-haul oil transport. Its data showed that in the first half of this year, 151 VLCCs were contracted worldwide, representing 79 per cent of all new tanker orders and more than double the number of VLCC orders placed for all of last year.
Chinese shipyards had secured 82 per cent of the global new tanker orders placed this year as measured by carrying capacity, BIMCO data showed. In the VLCC segment, Chinese builders bagged 133 of the 151 orders placed worldwide.
China’s shipbuilding primacy is also backed up by official statistics. Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed that in the first quarter of this year, China continued to lead in global completion volume, new orders and order backlog.
Completion volume reached 15.6 million dwt, a year-on-year increase of 46 per cent; new orders almost doubled from the same period last year to 59.5 million dwt; and the total order backlog hit 322 million dwt, accounting for nearly 70 per cent of the global total.
The ministry said some leading shipyards in Shanghai and the provinces of Jiangsu and Liaoning had orders piling up, with deliveries extending into 2029.