Belgian tanker giant Euronav has ordered two dual-fuel 17,000 dwt bitumen tankers from a Chinese shipyard.
The vessels will be constructed by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard and are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2026. The two tankers have already been chartered for 10 years upon delivery from the shipyard to an unnamed client, only described as a “strong counterparty”.
The bitumen tankers, which are mainly used to carry asphalt at a temperature of 250 degrees, will have dual-fuel green methanol engines ready to be retrofitted for future operation on ammonia.
The Saverys family-controlled company said that the 17,000 dwt newbuilds would be twice the 8,000-tonne average of the existing 230 vessel-strong worldwide bitumen tanker fleet.
The group recently announced two time charter contracts with Valero in December 2023. Earlier this year, CMB.TECH and Euronav announced the construction of the world’s first ammonia-fuelled containership in partnership with NCL and Yara. With the addition of the charters for the two new bitumen tanker charters, the total contract backlog of Euronav amounts to $1.97bn.
“In recent months, we have secured a total of 55 years of time charter cover thanks to the great support of top-class companies. This proves that our customers are ready to partner with Euronav and CMB.TECH to develop future-proof solutions for the shipping industry,” said Alexander Saverys, CEO of Euronav.
