China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation’s subsidiary Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry recently secured a contract to build a series of 250,000 DWT very large ore carriers (VLOCs) for Shandong Shipping.
According to Eshiptrading’s citation of industry sources, the owner is planning up to 10 series and the first batch is to be built by Qingdao Beihai.
It is most likely that the massive newbuilding programme is going to be divided into two separate orders. Other shipyards that are in the race for the remainder of the series include, among others, CSSC Guangzhou Longxue Shipbuilding, Jiangnan Shipyard and Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding.
[mappress] World Maritime News Staff, April 10, 2013; Image: Qingdao Beihai