Greek shipowners have placed new orders for 12 tankers at China’s Hengli Heavy Industries, comprising six VLCCs, two Suezmaxes and four LR2 product carriers, continuing a run of heavy newbuilding commitments by Greek interests at the Dalian-based yard.
George Procopiou’s Dynacom Tankers Management is among the buyers behind the latest contracts. The six VLCCs alone are valued at approximately 840 million dollars, or about 140 million dollars each, while prices for the two Suezmaxes and four LR2s have not been disclosed, pointing to a total order value well above that figure.
Dynacom Deepens Long-Running Hengli Partnership
Dynacom’s cooperation with Hengli Heavy Industries already exceeds 50 vessels, making the Procopiou-controlled company one of the shipyard’s most prolific repeat customers. The relationship has included large batches of VLCCs and Suezmax tankers as well as very large ammonia carriers, with Dynacom in recent months committing close to 1 billion dollars in fresh capital for newbuilding orders at the Dalian yard, bringing its total orderbook there to more than 30 vessels including up to 20 VLCCs and nine Suezmax tankers.
The latest 12-ship package extends that fleet renewal drive, with high-specification crude carriers built to meet IMO Tier III emissions standards and deliveries phased through the end of the decade. Dynacom has used the Hengli relationship to secure scarce prime delivery slots at a time when global shipyard capacity remains constrained by a years-long ordering boom across multiple vessel segments.
Hengli’s Expanding Greek Client Roster
Over the past three years Hengli has secured orders for 177 ships from Greek interests worth around 10.2 billion dollars, with clients including Dynacom, Capital Maritime, Evalend Shipping, Thenamaris and Eurobulk. The yard currently holds a backlog of 69 VLCCs, ranking it first globally in that category, underscoring how central Greek owners have become to its order intake.
Other prominent Greek groups have followed similar paths at the yard. Evangelos Marinakis’s Capital Maritime has ordered VLCCs there as part of a wider 15-ship VLCC package, while Nikolas Martinos’s Thenamaris has placed LR2, Aframax and container ship orders at Hengli after decades of relying mainly on Japanese and South Korean yards.
High Freight Rates Drive Fleet Renewal
The new orders come amid elevated tanker freight rates, which have encouraged Greek owners to lock in modern, fuel-efficient tonnage while the earnings environment remains favorable. Shipbrokers note that the crude tanker sector has stayed at the forefront of owners’ newbuilding focus, supported by strong freight fundamentals and an ageing global fleet that continues to drive replacement demand.
At the same time, owners are seeking to manage the risk of future overcapacity as the current wave of ordering adds substantial tonnage to the global fleet over the coming years. Industry sources have pointed to the scale of Greek commitments at Chinese yards as a signal of confidence in sustained demand for modern, compliant tankers even as newbuilding prices and shipyard slot scarcity continue to rise.
Why it matters
The order underscores the dominant role Greek shipowners play in global tanker fleet renewal and in sustaining Chinese shipbuilding capacity, with Hengli’s Greek-linked backlog alone exceeding 10 billion dollars over three years. Continued large-scale ordering by owners such as Dynacom, Capital Maritime and Thenamaris reinforces Greece’s position as the world’s largest shipowning nation while also raising questions about future tanker overcapacity once the current newbuilding wave reaches delivery. The deals further cement Hengli’s position as the leading VLCC builder globally, a status built substantially on Greek custom.
Source: Greek City Times
