Oldendorff Carriers has renewed two newbuilding contracts, which were concluded originally in June 2012 with Weihai-based Samnjin Shipbuilding Ind. (SSI).
The initial order, comprising four 36,000 DWT Handysize newbuildings of the FESDEC-36k eco type, was canceled in 2014 and 2015 after excessive delays as the shipbuilder entered financial restructuring.
The shipyard was Korean-owned at the time but had to resort to restructuring amid problems with its Korean parent. Samjin was acquired last year by the diversified Shanghai Zhouji Group.
Oldendorff said that it has received back its downpayments for the newbuildings and that roughly 50% of the building blocks were completed at that time and well-protected.
As stipulated under the new contracts signed on August 2nd, 2017, the two ships are scheduled for delivery in the autumn of 2018 and January 2019.
In addition, the company said that it has secured time-charter contracts for both ships with an unnamed trading house for 4 – 5 years.
“We know, that the yard is again building excellent quality vessels, last year we observed the quality and enjoyed a good working relationship with the yard when we bought 58,000 DWT Frederike Oldendorff as a resale from the yard, ” the company said.
The new vessels feature 4 x 35 tons Mitsubishi cranes, a Wärtsilä / WinGD main engine, MAN-B&W auxiliary engines, and cargo holds of 47,500 cbm.
In the last 5 years, the company has invested more than USD 2.25 billion in 89 vessels, including 22 Capesizes (incl Newcastlemaxes and Baby Capes), 22 Panamaxes, 22 Ultramaxes and Supramaxes and 22 Handies, plus one transshipment platform.
“We have focused on large capacity ships, which are best suited for our trades, made up of either ec o newbuildings or resales typically around 5-year-old, well-equipped second-hand ships,” Oldendorff added.
The company’s fleet is made up of over 600 bulkers, with typically between 50 and 100 vessels of all sizes on floating charter TC or BB contracts.