Yangzijiang Shipbuilding seals orders for 22 vessels amid growing demand for green ships

China-based Yangzijiang Shipbuilding revealed that it has secured orders for a total of 22 vessels since last August, achieving its highest-ever total orderbook value of $10.27 billion and extending its revenue visibility to mid-2025.

Out of the orders for the 22 vessels, six are 66,000 dwt bulk carriers, four are 32,000 dwt bulk carriers, and another twelve are 16,000TEU LNG dual-fuel containerships.

With the latest order wins, year-to-date, the shipbuilder has secured orders for 40 vessels worth approximately $3.6 billion, exceeding its FY2022 target of $2.0 billion.

“These new order wins take us well past our FY2022 orderbook target of $2 billion and showcase the strong demand for our new vessels, particularly green vessels,” Ren Letian, Executive Chairman and CEO of the Group, said.

“The stricter environmental regulations in recent years have given rise to a growing demand for green vessels and we are poised to be a beneficiary of this growth. As such, given Yangzijiang’s solid track record in vessel quality and timely delivery, we are confident in maintaining our order win momentum and in delivering stable and sustainable returns to our shareholders.”

Yangzijiang is also looking into expanding its green vessel operations to meet growing demand and improve its operational efficiency. The shipbuilder signed a major deal with French GTT in September 2022 which will enable it to construct vessels using GTT membrane technologies.

The signing of the Technical Assistance and License Agreement follows Yangzijiang’s completion of the GTT qualification process in record time, the duo said last month.

Yangzijiang has already secured an order for four 8,000 TEU dual-fuelled container ships from Pacific International Lines. The container vessels feature GTT’s Membrane technology for the LNG fuel tanks. 

Each LNG fuel tank will be fitted with the Mark III membrane containment technology and include features to facilitate a potential conversion of the vessels to ammonia.

The delivery of the four vessels is scheduled for each quarter of 2025.

“Here at Yangzijiang, we are committed to building greener vessels. Further to the GTT know-how, we are witnessing a strong market sentiment in this space. While we are working even harder to secure our maiden type C LNG carrier, we are also looking to invest in a new production line to meet the strong demand and the market needs in the long term.”

With 16 vessels delivered in 3Q2022, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has delivered 51 vessels in total as of 30 September 2022 and is on track to achieve its FY2022 delivery target of 70 vessels.