Sonangol presses on with fleet expansion with $190M tanker deal at HD Hyundai

Sonangol Shipping Holding Limited, part of Angola’s state-controlled oil company Sonangol EP, has booked a pair of 158,000 dwt Suezmax tankers at South Korea’s major HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, according to Greek shipbroker Intermodal.

It has been disclosed that the shipbuilding contract the two parties signed is valued at around $190 million, with Sonangol expected to cash out roughly $95 million per unit, Intermodal revealed. The eco-friendly tanker duo is scheduled to be delivered in 2027 and 2028, respectively.

According to Intermodal, the Suezmax units were outfitted with exhaust gas cleaning systems (EGSCs), also known as scrubbers. These devices are designed to reduce sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions by removing pollutants from a vessel’s exhaust gases, enabling compliance with the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) regulations and other environmental standards.

It is believed that Sonangol presently operates a fleet of 17 tankers and five gas carriers, with two additional Suezmaxes from HD Hyundai Samho set to join the fleet this year.

In addition to this, data shows that, once this new order has been firmed up, the company will have booked 10 Suezmaxes at South Korean yards since 2014.

As an example, back in 2021, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE) won an order to construct a pair of liquefied natural gas (LNG)-ready Suezmax crude oil carriers for the Angolan company. In April 2023, Sonangol welcomed the first of these units, the 274-meter-long Sonangol Kulumbimbi, which was named at the HD Hyundai Samho shipyard.

The crude oil tanker market has been undergoing major fluctuations over the past several years, particularly when it comes to vessel orders and deliveries.

Namely, according to a January 2025 report from shipping association BIMCO, in 2024, only 17 new crude oil tankers, with a combined total capacity of 2.5 million dwt, were handed over, representing a 74% decrease compared to 2023 and the lowest level since 1988.

This comes as a sharp contrast to the product tanker segment where deliveries for 2025 are anticipated to experience a staggering 256% growth.

Specifically, product tanker newbuild handovers are projected to reach 12 million deadweight tonnes this year, representing “a 16-year high and the second highest on record”, according to the association’s Chief Shipping Analyst Niels Rasmussen.

A separate report published by Intermodal backed BIMCO’s data, showing that a total of 179 units exceeding 10,000 dwt are planned to be turned over to their owners in 2025, compared to 49 ships that were handed over in 2024.

For example, among the wrapped-up and expected deliveries in 2025 are Greek shipping company Thenamaris’ 114,000 dwt Isabella, christened in February 2025, and a quartet of product/chemical tankers under construction at the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) for an undisclosed African shipowner, slated for delivery by November 2025.