MSC and Rheinmetall Win Mangalia in a 138 Million Euro Yard Deal as COSCO Adds 16 Grain Carriers

Mangalia is coming back. Rheinmetall confirmed on Oct 19 that it and the Aponte-controlled MSC won the auction for the Romanian yard south of Constanta with a jointly funded purchase price of about 138 million euros, equivalent to roughly $154.9 million, with closing expected within weeks. Neither party disclosed its ownership split. The facility, which entered insolvency in June 2024 after a long dispute between Dutch builder Damen and the Romanian state over management rights, covers around 100 hectares and offers three graving drydocks ranging from 302 by 48 metres up to 360 by 60 metres plus 1,550 metres of quayside — capacity that has been absent from the European orderbook since it stopped trading.

The buyers want a dual-use site. The yard will be subdivided into separate production and security zones so civilian and naval work can run in parallel for Romanian and international customers. For Rheinmetall Naval Systems, Mangalia will build four vessels commissioned by the Romanian government: two 96-metre offshore patrol vessels and two 43-metre diver support ships, part of a 5.7 billion euro defence package awarded in May under the European Union's SAFE programme with deliveries scheduled for 2028 to 2030. "Following the acquisition, we plan to expand and upgrade the shipyard comprehensively," said Tim Wagner, chief executive of Rheinmetall Naval Systems. MSC, which first flagged interest in Mangalia in mid-2025, has cruise ships, ropax tonnage and tugboats among the candidate commercial programmes and is separately pursuing a possible investment in Germany's Meyer Werft.

Chinese bulk newbuilding activity continued on the same day. COSCO Shipping Bulk signed for another 16 multipurpose grain carriers of 87,000 dwt at Fujian Shipbuilding, in a package estimated at around $800 million although pricing and delivery dates were not disclosed. Three Chinese lessors are backing the programme: ICBC Financial Leasing on 11 ships, Zheyin Financial Leasing on three and Yongying Financial Leasing on the remaining two. The deal was signed at an event marking the 160th anniversary of Fujian Shipbuilding, where the yard group also booked main engines and generator sets for the 16 hulls.

The order extends a deliberate fleet-renewal programme rather than a one-off. In June 2025 COSCO Shipping Bulk, CITIC Financial Leasing and Fujian agreed 15 firm plus 15 optional 80,000 dwt multipurpose grain carriers at about RMB 360 million, or roughly $50 million, apiece for 2027 and 2028 delivery; in July its listed leasing arm COSCO Shipping Development unveiled a separate RMB 8.66 billion, or $1.27 billion, order for 24 bulkers including twenty 87,000 dwt grain carriers and four 210,000 dwt newcastlemaxes on 20-year leases. Elsewhere on Oct 19, China Merchants-controlled Nanjing Tanker selected Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corporation for four more LR2 product and crude tankers, taking that programme to six hulls, and India introduced two government-backed credit-risk insurance products for domestic shipbuilders.