South Korea’s nascent DH Shipbuilding, formerly known as Daehan Shipbuilding, poised to ink tanker newbuilding contracts worth $278m
Nascent DH Shipbuilding — formerly Daehan Shipbuilding — is set to ink its first newbuilding contract after it comes under the control of merger-and-acquisition specialist KH Investment.
Shipping sources said DH Shipbuilding’s sales team is in Europe this week to sign newbuilding contracts with Leon Patitsas-led Atlas Maritime and Belgian tanker owner Euronav.
TradeWinds has learned that Atlas Maritime will be signing up for two aframax crude carriers. Euronav is poised to order two suezmax tankers.
Officials at DH declined to comment on the shipyard’s newbuilding activities.
Sources said that if the DH marketing team manages to get the two deals done, the yard will have sold out its last four 2024 delivery berth slots.
Sources said that Atlas is ordering a pair of conventionally powered 115,000-dwt crude carriers. The Greek owner, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, is said to be paying about $64m for each vessel.
Atlas is an existing customer of the yard. The Greek company originally ordered a pair of vessels with the shipyard at the trough of the market in late 2020 for just around $45m each.
Atlas added three more ships last year, paying mid-$50m each. The quintet was scheduled to be delivered between 2022 and 2023.
In April, Atlas sold two of the five aframax carriers to General National Maritime Transport Co, commonly known as GNMTC, at a hefty premium of $61m each.
News of Euronav planning to order the 157,000-dwt suezmax tankers was first published in TradeWinds last month.
The Belgian tanker owner was reported to be ordering at least two newbuildings with the South Korean shipyard.
Euronav is believed to be fitting scrubbers on the newbuildings, which would cost the company $75m apiece. Market observers described this as a “very good” price, considering the early availability of ships due in 2024.
On the other hand, the payment schedule on the pair of newbuildings would be in favour of the shipyard as Euronav was said to be putting down 20% of the total cost as first instalment.
Contacted by TradeWinds at the time, a Euronav spokesman said that if the company had a completed contract for a newbuilding or any other corporate action to report, it would inform investors in line with capital market regulations at Euronext and the New York Stock Exchange, where it is listed.
DH is the second shipyard that KH Investment has acquired. Its first was K Shipbuilding — formerly STX Offshore & Shipbuilding.
KH Investment joined forces with debt clearing house United Asset Management Co to buy a 95% stake in STX Offshore from Korea Development Bank (KDB) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea. The duo was reported to have paid KRW 250bn ($179m in today’s terms).
As for DH, KH Investment acquired 90% of the shipyard’s stakes from KDB at about $200m. Creditors and commercial banks continue to hold the remaining shares.
