Shanghai-listed CMES said it will build two of the 400,000-dwt VLOCs at its affiliate China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) Co, and eight units at an undisclosed, unrelated shipyard in China.
The newbuildings order confirmation came after CMES and Vale entered into an agreement in September 2014 that CMES would order 10 VLOCs against a 25-year contract of affreightment (COA) with Vale, including a five-year extension option.
In July this year, CMES has confirmed a deal to buy four VLOCs, or valemaxes, at a total price of $448m from Vale. The four ships are owned and operated by CMES’s wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary China VLOC Company Limited.
The latest plan to add 10 more new VLOCs will bring CMES’s fleet of valemaxes to 14.
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