Hengli Books 12 Tankers at Nearly $140m a VLCC, Extending the World's Largest VLCC Orderbook
Hengli Heavy Industry signed six VLCCs, two Suezmaxes and four LR2 product tankers with Greek owners at an average of almost $140m per VLCC, taking its VLCC orderbook to 69 ships and keeping newbuilding pricing near record levels.
China's Hengli Heavy Industry has signed building agreements with several Greek owners covering twelve tankers: six very large crude carriers, two Suezmaxes and four LR2 product tankers. All three designs are in-house. At the disclosed average of nearly $140m each, the six VLCCs alone represent close to $840m of newbuilding business, and the yard says the contracts reinforce its position as the largest VLCC builder in the world by vessels on order. Dynacom Tankers Management, part of George Procopiou's shipping interests, is among the returning buyers, taking cumulative cooperation between the two groups past fifty vessels across kamsarmax bulkers, VLCCs, Suezmaxes and very large ammonia carriers.
The pricing reflects how tight large-crude slots have become. Shipbroker Affinity reported in its July 2026 Orderbook Observer that the crude tanker orderbook had reached 28% of the existing fleet after exceptionally strong VLCC and Suezmax contracting in the first half, with fleet ageing still supporting orders despite historically high newbuilding prices. Hengli is selling delivery availability from 2028 as part of the package, and reported 207 new ship orders in the first half of 2026, of which 94 were tankers, alongside 40 deliveries.
The secondhand market is validating those newbuilding numbers. Market reports in September linked the Hengli-built 306,000-dwt VLCC PINIOS to a sale at approximately $200m, with Dubai-based trader Onex DMCC identified as the likely buyer. Dynacom acquired the newbuilding contract for roughly $122m in 2024 and the vessel was delivered in February 2026, so a sale at that level would be a nominal sale-price record and a gain of about $78m, or 64%, over roughly seven months of trading.
Greek capital remains the core of Hengli's book. Published industry reporting put cumulative Greek-owned orders at the yard over the preceding three years at 177 vessels covering bulk carriers, tankers, containerships and large gas carriers, worth about $10.2bn. Greek owners signed 299 newbuilding contracts in the first half of 2026 according to TradeWinds and Clarksons data, with 235, or 79%, placed at Chinese yards, and Hengli accounting for 36% of the Chinese share. The yard has also disclosed eleven very large ammonia carrier contracts signed within a single week, extending the same pattern into gas carriers.