Hengli Secures Orders for 12 Tankers, Cementing Its Lead in VLCC Construction

Hengli Heavy Industries signed agreements with several Greek shipowners to build 12 tankers: six VLCCs, two Suezmaxes and four LR2s. According to the yard, the average price per VLCC is around $140 million, and the deal strengthens its position as the world's largest builder of this vessel type by number of units on its orderbook. Among the repeat buyers is Dynacom Tankers Management, linked to Greek shipowner George Procopiou.

The average value of nearly $140 million per VLCC exceeds Clarksons' benchmark for conventional VLCCs, estimated at between $128 million and $130 million, as well as Hengli's previous newbuilding cost of around $119 million. The secondhand market partly explains this rise: a five-year-old VLCC is trading at around $143 million, and the resale of a newbuilding under construction reached $172 million. Against this backdrop is the resale of the VLCC PINIOS, delivered by Hengli to Dynacom in February 2026, which according to market reports was sold to Dubai-based trader Onex DMCC for around $200 million, compared with an original newbuilding contract of approximately $122 million.

The relationship between Hengli and Procopiou's shipping companies now spans more than 50 vessels, including Kamsarmax bulk carriers, VLCCs, Suezmaxes and VLACs, as well as a 20-VLCC program. Hengli's first VLCC following its restart, the ALIAKMON I, was delivered to Dynacom in June 2025, and on June 5, 2026, the yard delivered two 306,000-dwt VLCCs on the same day, the EVROS and the ACHELOOS, at least three months ahead of the contractual schedule, according to a report from the Liaoning provincial government. Cooperation has also extended to large gas carriers, with a package of eight units comprising six VLACs and two additional VLCCs.

In addition to Dynacom, Capital, the Greek shipping group controlled by Evangelos Marinakis, is also a repeat Hengli client; in February the yard had delivered one VLCC and received orders for 11 more. By July 2026, the cumulative total of Greek orders placed with Hengli over the past three years reached 177 vessels across bulk carriers, tankers, containerships and gas carriers. Trade News reported that this order for 12 tankers is part of a larger package of 23 vessels signed by the yard, which also includes deals linked to Norwegian shipowner John Fredriksen in addition to those tied to Procopiou.

All three vessel types ordered use designs developed in-house by Hengli; the 306,000-dwt VLCC measures 332.8 meters in length overall and 60 meters in beam, with a service speed of 14.5 knots. In the first half of 2026, the yard reported 207 new orders, of which 94 were tankers, close to 45% of the total by number of units, along with 40 deliveries in the same period. Hengli highlighted that its available building slots from 2028 onward is a key advantage in winning new orders.