Like other Chinese shipbuilders facing squeezed circumstances Yangzijiang, China’s largest private shipbuilder, is growing as a fully-fledged shipowner. Singapore-based Yangzijiang Shipping, a subsidiary of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, has bought the three-year-old 39,400 dwt bulk carrier CWB Strongfield. The ship was built at the now bankrupt Nantong Mingde Heavy Industry.
. The ship was built at the now bankrupt Nantong Mingde Heavy Industry.Yangzijiang paid $14m for the ship via an auction, brokers report. The new ship will be the first handy in Yangzijiang Shipping’s fleet list. The growing outfit is listed with 13 bulkers in the ultramax to post panamax range in the water, according to VesselsValue.com’s fleet-register. The bulker specialist also has an extensive newbuilding program with just under 30 ships that will hit the water in the next couple of years.
Yangzijiang Shipping has been sniffing around the handysize segment for some time and has eight 36,500 dwt bulkers on order at parent Jiangsu New Yangzijiang.
In comparison the seller of the handy, the Canadian Wheat Board is left with one single handy in its fleet the same sized, similar aged G3 Marquis.
Chinese shipbuilders getting creative to ride out the downturn is nothing new – a number of them have resorted to vessel owning in recent years. For example, CSSC Leasing is another shipowning arm of a Chinese shipbuilder, belonging to state-run China State Shipbuilding Corporation.
