Athens: Reederei Johann MK Blumenthal is swapping its capesize bulk carrier newbuilding contracts for suezmax tankers, brokers’ reports say.
The Hamburg-based shipping company currently has four of the bulk carriers under construction at Hyundai Heavy Industries, South Korea.
The vessels’ delivery windows have also changed. Three vessels were originally scheduled to arrive this year and a fourth in 2016. Now all four vessels will be delivered by March 2017.
The conversion marks a new foray into tankers for the German firm. Apart from one 2,523-teu containership, Blumenthal operates a fleet of purely bulk carriers, comprising five capesizes; four panamax bulkers, five supramax and nine handysize bulk carriers.
Blumenthal is not the first to swap bulker newbuildings for tankers. In February, Scorpio Bulkers announced its plans to change its contracts for three new capesize vessels to three LR1 product tankers at an unnamed South Korean shipyard.
