Saturday, 29 August 2026, 03:30:02 PM
K Line steps back into VLCC newbuild market
K Line Japanese shipping major Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line) has returned to the VLCC newbuilding market with an order for three 311,000 dwt ships at compatriot Nihon Shipyard.

K Line steps back into VLCC newbuild market

The company confirmed the contracts on Friday, with deliveries scheduled from 2029 onwards. Pricing and propulsion details have not been disclosed.      The 339.5 m-long, 60 m-wide ships will be built to a malaccamax design aimed at crude trades between the Middle East and Asia through the Strait of Malacca. K Line described the trio as next-generation, fuel-efficient vessels.   The deal marks a fresh fleet renewal move in a segment where K Line has maintained a relatively compact operation. Its latest factbook showed six VLCCs totalling around 1.84m dwt as of June 2025, with all six backed by cargo contracts.

K Line’s last comparable publicly announced VLCC investment came a decade ago. In 2016, the Japanese group ordered three 310,000-plus dwt VLCCs at Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Namura Shipbuilding for delivery in 2017 and 2018 as part of a broader tanker fleet upgrade.

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