Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) has added two Newcastlemax bulk carrier newbuildings to its orderbook at Chinese yard Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry. Brokers said the Belgian shipowner is paying about $66m each for the 210,000-dwt vessels, to be delivered in the second half of 2024. They are thought to be optional berths that the company was holding with the shipbuilder. But this has not been confirmed. Benoit Timmermans, chief commercial officer of CMB’s dry bulk division Bocimar, confirmed to TradeWinds that the company has ordered the two ships at Qingdao Beihai.

Timmermans said the vessels, along with the others the company has ordered at the yard, are dual-fuel ammonia-ready. “This is part of our fleet renewal with future-proof vessels which are — on the basis of conventional fuel — already 20% more fuel-efficient than newbuildings delivering today,” he added. In 2021, CMB ordered eight Newcastlemax bulkers at Qingdao Beihai, starting with a quartet and adding a further two ships in October and then again in December. This initial octet is due for delivery in 2023. At the time, Timmermans said the order was placed on the back of strong fundamentals in the dry bulk sector and fleet renewal plans.

Brokers said the latest two vessels have been contracted at a strong price — setting a new benchmark for this type of vessel — but it is unclear what additional premium has been paid for the ammonia-ready notation. In contrast, Tor Olav Troim’s eco bulker start-up Himalaya Shipping is paying about $68.8m each for a series of 12 LNG dual-fuel Newcastlemax bulkers contracted at New Times Shipbuilding in China. These vessels are scheduled for delivery from the second quarter of 2023 to the end of 2024. But they include a dual-fuel system worth about $15m.

Shipowners are battling to decide whether to move forward with increasingly expensive newbuildings at yards, where berth space is rapidly filling up, or turn to the secondhand market until the regulatory picture on emissions becomes clearer. Building vessels that are classed as ammonia-ready is one option for owners that do not want to take the LNG-fueling route for their newbuildings but do need to demonstrate to investors and shareholders that they are addressing emissions reductions for their fleet.

Clarksons said that in 2021 some 35 newbuildings were contracted as ammonia-ready. Shipowners that have ordered ammonia-ready tonnage have said their vessels will have deck areas marked out for strengthening to take future bunker tanks to hold higher-density ammonia. Fuel and pathways for a gas supply system, which would require double walling for ammonia, are also being mapped out on ships.