New contract for Chinese bulkers

The 82,000dwt bulkers are to be built at Sinopacific’s Yangzhou Dayang shipyard to NK class, with delivery scheduled to begin in the second half of 2016. The vessels in this order are optimised versions of the Crown MHI 82 design, offering increased efficiency and lower operating costs.

According to Sinopacific, Bohi Industry is a Chinese enterprise focusing on cereal and oil trading and processing, operating a fleet of high quality, all-owned vessels. Most previous Bohi ships have been built in Japan, but Sinopacific says that after carrying out extensive due diligence on competing ship designs and yards, Bohi selected Sinopacific and the Crown MHI 82, based on features of the ship design and the shipyard’s record.

The yard says that the basic Crown 82 design was first formulated in late 2009, then in 2012, in partnership with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, it was optimised to achieve what Sinopacific describes as “international first class standards” achieving a fuel consumption figure of about 26.6 tons per day. The first order was secured in May 2013 and prior to this new contract, the order book stood at 10 vessels with four options, with further contracts under negotiation.

Mr Jiang Qiang, Sinopacific’s joint CEO, said: “As a shipbuilder focusing on technical prowess and innovation, we have always maintained an open mindset for working together with ship owners to create a winning partnership. Sinopacific and Bohi Industry have a lot in common, such as corporate development and culture. In the future, we aim to continue improving both the quality and the service standards of the Crown bulker series so as to provide an optimised product experience to our customers.”