COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers is moving to add 14 more 60,000 DWT multipurpose heavy-lift vessels through eight newbuildings and six long-term bareboat charters.
For the eight newbuildings, COSCO Shipping (Hong Kong) Investment Development or its affiliated companies will act as the investment entity, with the vessels to be constructed by Dalian COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry.
The total shipbuilding price will not exceed CNY 2.624 billion excluding tax. The company estimates an internal rate of return of approximately 6.64% for the project, with a static investment payback period of about 12.51 years.
The newbuilding investment is intended to further develop and optimise the company’s multipurpose heavy-lift capacity and improve its fleet structure.
Separately, wholly owned Xiamen COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers will bareboat charter six 60,000 DWT multipurpose heavy-lift vessels.
The lessors are CITIC Financial Leasing, ICBC Financial Leasing, CMB Financial Leasing and CZBank Financial Leasing.
The charter period will be approximately 20 years, with the bareboat rate set at about CNY 61,000 per vessel per day including tax. Once all six vessels have been delivered, annual charter payments are expected to total approximately CNY 133.59 million. Vessel management will be handled by the charterer.
The six-vessel charter is intended to support fleet renewal and optimisation. Together, the two transactions will add 14 60,000 DWT multipurpose heavy-lift vessels to COSCO Shipping Specialized Carriers‘ fleet.