MISC Adds Five 174,000 m3 LNG Carriers at Hudong-Zhonghua as Weekly Orders Hit 66
Chinese yards took about 94% of the 62 firm orders tracked in the week to 18 October, headlined by MISC's five 174,000 m3 LNG carriers at Hudong-Zhonghua and up to 20 vessels at Fujian Shipbuilding.
Shipyards in China and Korea booked 66 newbuilding orders across seven segments in week 42 of 2026, covering 12 to 18 October and totalling 1,586,000 dwt, according to the New-Ships orderbook. The week comprised 27 container ships, 13 gas carriers, 11 tankers accounting for 1,231,000 dwt, seven offshore units, four bulk carriers, three general cargo ships and one service vessel. Chinese shipbuilding tracker Longde Chuanren counted 62 firm orders plus three options over the same window, with Chinese yards taking 58 firm plus three optional, roughly 94% including options, and Korean yards four.
The headline gas order came from Hudong-Zhonghua, which announced two series totalling seven vessels: five 174,000 m3 LNG carriers for Malaysia's MISC and two 14,000 TEU container ships for Zhonggu Shipping, its first cooperation with that owner. MISC has now ordered 11 firm plus five optional LNG carriers at Hudong-Zhonghua this year, comprising 10 firm plus five optional units of the 174,000 m3 class and one 18,700 m3 small LNG carrier. Hengli Heavy Industry reported 17 vessels in the same week, including six VLCCs priced at close to 140 million dollars each, above the 128-130 million dollar market average recorded by Clarksons.
Bulk and product tanker work was concentrated at two yards. Fujian Shipbuilding signed up to 20 vessels, split between 16 87,000 dwt multipurpose grain carriers for COSCO Shipping Bulk and two firm plus two optional 84-metre platform supply vessels for Britain's Union Maritime, marking Union's first move into the offshore market. Jiangsu Hantong booked nine tankers: six 74,000 dwt LR1 product tankers for Dubai's Emarat Maritime for 2029 and 2030 delivery and three 157,000 dwt Suezmaxes for Greece's Liquimar Tankers for the second half of 2030, while Dalian Shipbuilding took four LR2 tankers for Nanjing Tanker and Jinglu two 158,000 dwt Suezmaxes for Chemnav.
The orderbook context is what keeps newbuilding prices supported. New-Ships data as of 19 October shows 2,211 tankers on firm order at 166 yards for 312 owners, an orderbook-to-fleet ratio of 9.4% against 23,485 ships in service, with 810 orders placed over the past 12 months and 84 over the past 30 days. CSSC leads with 337 tankers on order, followed by Hengli Heavy Industries at 174 and HD Hyundai's KSOE at 171. Scheduled deliveries run 202 ships in 2026, 518 in 2027 and 561 in 2028, so 2028 is now the peak delivery year.
Yard capacity, not demand, is the binding constraint. Hengli said at its 15-16 October green shipping conference in Dalian that it has started building more than 200 vessels, has cumulative orders above 600 and has newbuilding and engine slots booked to 2030, with deliveries planned at 90 vessels in 2026 and 120 in 2027. Owners including Dynacom, which has 69 ships on order at the yard including 16 VLCCs, cited yard hardware, build quality, early delivery capability and after-sales service as the reasons for concentrating orders there.