Belgium’s Euronav tanker owner is continuing to renew its fleet as it orders two dual-fuel bitumen tankers with China Merchants Jinling shipyard (Yangzhou) Dingheng.
Saverys-led Euronav has revealed that the 17,000 tons vessels are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2026, and have been chartered to a strong counterparty for 10 years upon delivery from the shipyard.
The ships will have dual-fuel green methanol engines and be prepared to be retrofitted to run on ammonia.
In a worldwide basis there are 230 bitumen tankers with an average age of 15 years. Bitumen tankers are tankers that mainly carry asphalt at a temperature of 250 degrees.
Belgian owner also revealed yesterday that has sealed two time charter contracts with Valero in December 2023.
Earlier this year, CMB.TECH and Euronav announced the construction of an ammonia-fuelled container ship in partnership with NCL and Yara. With the addition of the charters for the two new bitumen tanker charters, the total contract backlog of Euronav amounts to $1,975m.
Alexander Saverys, chief executive of Euronav, said: “With the new orders for two state-of-the-art and green newbuilding bitumen tankers, we continue to execute our strategy of diversification and decarbonisation of our fleet. In recent months, we have secured a total of 55 years of time charter cover thanks to the great support of top-class companies.
“This proves that our customers are ready to partner up with Euronav and CMB.TECH to develop future-proof solutions for the shipping industry. We will continue to develop innovative low carbon solutions for our customers and will accelerate our investments in the maritime energy transition. Decarbonise today, navigate tomorrow.”
