CSSC Chengxi Shipyard has secured a repeat order from Cyprus-based Schoeller Holdings for four 50,000-dwt medium-range product/chemical tankers, following delivery of the owner’s first four-ship series. The new contract brings Schoeller’s orders for the design at Chengxi to eight vessels. The original quartet, ordered in 2023, was completed with the delivery of Cape Bowen on 30 June 2026.

The agreement extends a relationship that has progressed from initial contracting to series construction and fleet deployment. Xinde Marine News reported the additional four-ship order on 8 September, following its signing around the SMM maritime exhibition in Hamburg. Chengxi has now detailed the follow-on contract in its latest announcement. Xinde Maritime News

First four-ship series completed

Schoeller’s first Chengxi-built MR series comprises Cape Bilbao, Cape Bonny, Cape Brasilia and Cape Bowen. Cape Bilbao was delivered in 2025, followed by the other three vessels in 2026. The final ship, Cape Bowen, was launched on 23 January and handed over on 30 June, completing the programme before the owner committed to another four vessels.

During Cape Bowen’s construction, Chengxi worked with the owner and classification society to coordinate outfitting, commissioning and delivery. The yard reported that the vessel met its design performance requirements. Following delivery, the American Bureau of Shipping sent Chengxi a letter recognising its construction quality and project management. Chengxi attributed the subsequent repeat order to the quality of the completed ships, contract execution and the service provided throughout the first programme.

An in-house design with 53,500 cubic metres of cargo capacity

The 50,000-dwt MR product/chemical tanker is one of Chengxi’s core, internally developed designs. It measures 182.70 metres in overall length, 32.20 metres in moulded breadth and 19.10 metres in moulded depth, with a design draught of 11 metres and a service speed of 14.5 knots. Cargo-tank capacity is 53,500 cubic metres. The same principal particulars were reported for Cape Bonny, the second vessel in Schoeller’s original series.

Cargo flexibility was a central requirement when the first ships were ordered. In its 2023 announcement, United Product Tankers said the vessels were being specified to accommodate a variety of cargo requirements. The original design incorporated independent cargo piping and pumping arrangements to support the simultaneous carriage of different products, alongside compliance with IMO NOx Tier III and Energy Efficiency Design Index Phase 3 requirements.

Schoeller’s shipowning and operating businesses

Founded in Limassol in 1978, Schoeller Holdings combines shipowning, shipmanagement and commercial shipping activities with investments in other sectors, including aviation and hospitality. Its maritime businesses include Columbia Group and multipurpose heavy-lift operator AAL Shipping. Columbia’s activities extend from technical and crew management to logistics, offshore services and maritime technology, while AAL operates across project cargo, breakbulk and heavy-lift trades.

Schoeller’s original four MR tankers were ordered through its Hamburg-based United Product Tankers business, with Columbia Shipmanagement designated to manage the vessels. The arrangement brought the newbuildings into a group with established ship investment, commercial operations and technical management capabilities.

The group’s published product-tanker fleet comprises the four Chengxi-built 50,000-dwt vessels alongside four 38,000-dwt ships: CB Adriatic, CB Baltic, CB Pacific and CB Caribic. The latest Chengxi order adds another series of larger MRs to this existing liquid-cargo business.

Chinese newbuilding commitments extend beyond tankers

Schoeller’s investment in Chinese-built vessels also includes AAL’s 32,000-dwt Super B-Class multipurpose heavy-lift programme at CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding in Guangzhou. At the naming of AAL Newcastle in March 2026, AAL announced two additional vessels, AAL Tianjin and AAL Miami, for delivery in early 2028. These additions will take the series to ten ships. AAL said its long-standing relationship with the yard, together with the volume of vessels built for the wider group and its partners, had helped secure the construction slots.

The later Super B-Class vessels incorporate changes to meet evolving cargo-handling requirements. AAL Newcastle and AAL Mumbai feature individual crane capacities of 400 tonnes, compared with 350 tonnes on the earlier ships, increasing maximum combined lifting capacity to 800 tonnes. Further refinements include a 26-metre lifting beam, replacing the 20-metre arrangement on earlier vessels, to improve the handling of long structures and other oversized project cargoes.

Schoeller has also ordered four construction commissioning service operation vessels, or C-CSOVs, at Huangpu Wenchong for the offshore energy market. Construction of the first vessel, DO Joule, began in March 2026, with delivery scheduled for May 2027 and the remaining ships following at three-month intervals. Columbia Shipmanagement will provide technical management, while Deutsche Offshore Schifffahrt will act as developer, operator and commercial manager. The vessels are designed to support offshore projects through construction, commissioning, operations and maintenance.

Chengxi builds its liquid-cargo customer base

Chengxi’s development of its MR tanker business predates the Schoeller programme. In April 2020, China Shipbuilding Trading announced contracts signed jointly with Chengxi and Kumiai for a 37,000-dwt asphalt carrier and a 50,000-dwt MR tanker. Chengxi had previously built two 7,800-dwt asphalt carriers and one 37,000-dwt asphalt carrier for the customer. The new agreement extended that established relationship into MR tanker construction.

The yard has continued to secure business for the 50,000-dwt design in 2026. On 25 May, Chengxi and China Shipbuilding Trading signed contracts with EGPN for two MR product/chemical tankers. EGPN described the order as an expansion of its product and chemical tanker capacity. Together with Schoeller’s four-vessel follow-on contract, the two deals account for six additional 50,000-dwt MR tankers ordered at Chengxi this year.