Precious Shipping upgrades bulker sizes at Taizhou Sanfu shipyard

Four 39,000 dwt handysize bulk carriers will now be changed to four 64,000 dwt ultramax bulk carriers, Precious Shipping announced to the stock exchange.

“The seller approached the company with a request to switch the four vessels from handysize bulk carriers to ultramax bulk carriers, without any change to the delivery dates of the vessels, as the seller met with certain technical challenges in the construction of handysize bulk carriers,” Precious Shipping said.

“The company accepted this offer in light of the rapid delivery schedule promised for the ultramax bulk carriers,” it added.

Dry bulk shipowner Precious Shipping will now pay $27.7m for each of the new quartet, against the $21.96m agreed earlier for the smaller handysizes when the contract was signed in December 2013.

The first newbuilding ultramax will be delivered by 31 August 2015 and the last unit will be completed by 31 May 2016.

“After the acquisition and delivery of these vessels and the delivery of 20 more vessels already ordered but not yet delivered, the company’s fleet will consist of 69 vessels with an aggregate capacity of about 3,031,203 dwt,” Precious Shipping said.