China’s Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding has delivered one LNG-powered bulk carrier to Greece’s Maran Dry Management, the dry bulk unit of Angelicoussis Shipping Group.
SWS said in a statement it delivered the 190,000-dwt LNG dual-fuel, Ubuntu Unity, on February 28.
The shipbuilder said it built the vessel for Clouds Marine S.A., but it did not mention Maran Dry in the statement.
According to the website of Maran Dry Management, the company’s fleet includes Ubuntu Unity as well as its sister vessel Ubuntu Community, scheduled for delivery in March.
These are the first LNG dual-fuel ships in its fleet which totals 45 vessels.
VesselsValue data shows that Maran Dry bought these ships from mining giant Anglo American and chartered them back to the latter.
Anglo American’s shipping unit ordered six vessels directly at SWS for about $60 million per vessel in 2021 and these two vessels are part of that order.
Besides these six ships, SWS also won a contract to build four LNG-powered bulkers for Taiwan’s shipowner U-Ming and these vessels will go on charter to Anglo American as well.
In January, Anglo American said that the company’s first chartered LNG-powered bulker, Ubuntu Harmony, had loaded its first cargo of iron ore in South Africa.
Anglo American expects to introduce all of the ten vessels to its chartered fleet during the course of 2023 and 2024.