Mining giant Rio Tinto has finalized the shipowner for its 12 LNG-powered bulk carriers to be built at two Chinese shipyards, becoming another major mining company to build LNG-powered vessels at Chinese yards after BHP Billiton and Anglo American.
Singapore shipowner Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) and South Korean shipowner H-Line Shipping have become the winning bidders of Rio Tinto's LNG-powered bulk carrier bidding project, ordering 6+6 210,000 DWT Newcastlemax bulk carriers in New Times Shipbuilding and Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry.
These new ships are equipped with high-pressure ME-GI engines from MAN Energy Solutions and have two 3,100 m3 C-type LNG storage tanks.
The ship broker BancheroCosta said that the new ships ordered by H-Line and EPS will be delivered from the end of 2023 to the beginning of 2024.
Rio Tinto will charter the bulk carrier on a 10-year chartering contract to transport iron ore from Australia to China.
Each new ship is expected to cost $67 million. This means that the total value of the 12 new vessels will be $800 million once the order options are fully confirmed.
Rio Tinto has previously stated that the company is committed to achieving IMO's goal of reducing emissions by 40% by 2030 and its own long-term goal of achieving net-zero carbon transportation by 2050.
Source: Sarah Yu, XINDE MARINE NEWS
The opinions expressed herein are the author's and not necessarily those of The Xinde Marine News.
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