COSCO Shipping Bulk's latest project for a new batch of 210,000 DWT large bulk carriers has officially materialized.

On July 16, a signing ceremony for a four-vessel, 210,000 DWT bulk carrier project was held in Qingdao. The parties involved include Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding, China Shipbuilding Trading, ICBC Financial Leasing, and COSCO Shipping Bulk. Senior executives from ICBC Financial Leasing, COSCO Shipping Bulk, China State Shipbuilding Corporation, China Shipbuilding Trading, and Beihai Shipbuilding attended the signing event.

At the ceremony, representatives from ICBC Shipping Financial Leasing, COSCO Shipping Bulk, China Shipbuilding Trading, and Beihai Shipbuilding signed the agreement on behalf of their respective organizations.

Four New 210,000 DWT Vessels Feature Methanol and Ammonia Dual-Ready Design

The four newly contracted vessels are all 210,000 DWT large bulk carriers. According to Beihai Shipbuilding, the new ships will measure 299.90 meters in length, 50.00 meters in breadth, 26.30 meters in depth, with a structural draft of 18.50 meters. They feature a methanol and ammonia dual-fuel ready design and will comply with IMO Tier III emission standards and the EEDI Phase 3 requirements.

In terms of vessel size and deadweight tonnage, these ships belong to the mainstream Newcastlemax type in the international dry bulk market. They are well-suited for the long-distance ocean transportation of major commodities like iron ore and coal, particularly for routes from key resource regions such as Australia and Brazil to China and the Northeast Asian market.

The methanol and ammonia dual-ready designation does not mean the vessels will be delivered with methanol or ammonia dual-fuel engines. Instead, it involves reserving space, structural provisions, and piping arrangements for a future propulsion system retrofit. Given the significant uncertainty surrounding alternative fuel supply, fuel prices, and international emission reduction rules, this design allows the shipowner to control newbuilding investment costs while retaining the technical option to switch to low-carbon or zero-carbon fuels in the future.

ICBC Financial Leasing Joins, Clarifying COSCO Shipping Bulk's Expansion Model

A key feature of this project is the participation of ICBC Financial Leasing as a financial leasing institution. Although the specific vessel ownership structure, lease terms, charter rates, and contract values have not been disclosed, the four-party structure suggests these ships will likely follow the common large-scale shipping project model where a financial institution invests and holds the asset, the shipyard handles construction, and the shipping company manages long-term operations.

Under this framework, ICBC Financial Leasing and its shipping leasing platform provide capital and vessel asset ownership. China Shipbuilding Trading and Beihai Shipbuilding are responsible for contract execution and construction delivery. COSCO Shipping Bulk secures the right to use the ships through long-term charters and manages their commercial operations.

This model helps shipping companies reduce the capital expenditure pressure associated with concentrated vessel purchases, while aligning financing terms with the long-term usage cycle of large bulk carriers. For financial leasing institutions, it provides access to long-term, relatively stable cash flow assets backed by the operational capabilities and creditworthiness of a major state-owned shipping company.

This project also extends the "shipping operations platform + shipping finance platform + shipbuilding enterprise" synergy model that COSCO Shipping Group has been strengthening in the large dry bulk vessel sector. In July 2025, COSCO Shipping Development ordered four 210,000 DWT Newcastlemax bulk carriers from Beihai Shipbuilding for a total contract price of 2.112 billion yuan. Those vessels, also methanol and ammonia fuel-ready, were delivered on long-term charter to COSCO Shipping Bulk, with delivery scheduled from December 2027 to August 2028.

In January 2026, Zheshang Financial Leasing also signed a project with COSCO Shipping Bulk, Beihai Shipbuilding, and China Shipbuilding Trading for three new 210,000 DWT dry cargo ships. Besides the methanol and ammonia dual-ready design, those ships emphasized adaptability for different cargo types, including bulk, breakbulk, and containers.

At the end of June 2026, COSCO Shipping Development announced an order for two more 210,000 DWT dry cargo vessels at Beihai Shipbuilding, with a unit price of 610 million yuan (excluding tax). Upon delivery, these ships will be bareboat chartered to COSCO Shipping Bulk's subsidiary, Huifeng Shipping, for about 20 years.

The landing of this four-vessel project with ICBC Financial Leasing indicates that COSCO Shipping Bulk is further expanding its network of financial leasing partners. This creates a capital structure where both the group's internal shipping finance platform and external large financial leasing institutions support the fleet expansion.

COSCO Shipping Bulk Continues to Intensify Focus on 210,000 DWT Vessel Type

Over the past year, COSCO Shipping Bulk has been aggressively pursuing newbuilding projects for the 210,000 DWT bulk carrier type. Its partners have included COSCO Shipping Development, ICBC Financial Leasing, and Zheshang Financial Leasing, while the building shipyards have spanned Beihai Shipbuilding, COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Yangzhou), COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Zhoushan), and Dalian Shipbuilding.

In its operational approach, COSCO Shipping Bulk has not solely relied on direct orders with its own capital. Instead, it has utilized a mix of direct orders, internal group asset transfers, operating leases, bareboat charters, and external financial leases. This approach reflects a systematic renewal of its large dry bulk fleet, rather than a response to short-term market fluctuations.

The 210,000 DWT Newcastlemax type is a workhorse for the global iron ore trade, characterized by high single-vessel cargo capacity, low unit transport costs, and suitability for long-distance ore voyages. On the demand side, long-haul routes from resource-exporting regions like Brazil, Guinea, and Australia to China continue to provide a strong foundation for large bulk carrier ton-mile demand. As the Simandou iron ore project gradually releases cargo volumes and international mining companies place greater emphasis on low-carbon transport and long-term capacity security, the long-term commercial value of large, modern Newcastlemax ships with alternative fuel conversion capability is rising.

For COSCO Shipping Bulk, continuously securing new 210,000 DWT vessels serves a dual purpose. First, it supplements and updates its large ore-carrying capacity to serve core commodities like iron ore and coal. Second, it helps secure long-term charters and contracts of affreightment from mining companies, thereby enhancing the stability of its fleet's long-term revenue. COSCO Shipping Bulk has previously signed five-year time charters with BHP for two ammonia dual-fuel Newcastlemax bulk carriers, which will serve the iron ore trade from Western Australia to Northeast Asia. This project demonstrates that major mining companies are using long-term charters to bring lower-emission vessels into their actual transport systems.

Beihai Shipbuilding Further Strengthens Position in Large Bulk Carriers

For Beihai Shipbuilding, this order of four vessels further solidifies its batch construction advantage in the 210,000 DWT large bulk carrier segment. The 210,000 DWT bulk carrier has become one of Beihai Shipbuilding's most representative main products. The shipyard has been continuously developing various technical versions for this ship type, including conventional fuel, LNG dual-fuel, methanol-ready, ammonia-ready, and ammonia dual-fuel, with clients including major domestic and international shipping companies.

Beihai Shipbuilding has previously disclosed that its order book for large bulk carriers ranks among the highest of any single shipyard globally, and the 210,000 DWT ship type has developed a mature system for design, procurement, and batch construction. Public information from early 2026 showed that the shipyard's order book for this type of vessel had reached 59 ships, totaling approximately 14.4 million DWT. Batch orders not only improve the shipyard's efficiency in equipment procurement, block construction, and continuous building but also facilitate iterative design improvements. The 210,000 DWT ships previously ordered by COSCO Shipping Development at Beihai Shipbuilding were disclosed to feature a new generation of efficient hull lines, reducing fuel consumption by about 6% compared to the previous generation.

The formation of this four-party cooperation structure again, involving ICBC Financial Leasing, COSCO Shipping Bulk, China Shipbuilding Trading, and Beihai Shipbuilding, indicates that Beihai Shipbuilding is moving beyond simply executing shipbuilding contracts to becoming more deeply embedded in a synergistic industrial chain of shipping, finance, and manufacturing.

The "Build, Lease, Operate" Synergy Becomes a Key Path for State-Owned Enterprise Fleet Expansion

For COSCO Shipping Bulk, the new ships expand its large dry bulk transport capacity. For ICBC Financial Leasing, the project adds long-term maritime assets with a major state-owned shipping company as the charterer. For Beihai Shipbuilding and China Shipbuilding Trading, it locks in batch construction tasks and a stable customer base.

Propelling newbuilding projects through a collaboration of shipbuilders, financial leasing institutions, and shipping operators is becoming a key pathway for Chinese shipping companies to renew their fleets, reduce financing pressure, and drive the green transition. Especially when large vessel newbuilding prices remain high and the future fuel pathway is not yet fully determined, the long-term charter model can distribute the shipowner's capital investment. The methanol and ammonia dual-ready design preserves the option for future technical upgrades.

The signing of this contract for four 210,000 DWT bulk carriers marks the continuation of COSCO Shipping Bulk's fleet expansion in the direction of larger, greener, and more specialized vessels. It also creates a clearer "financial support – equipment construction – shipping operations" cooperation chain between ICBC Financial Leasing, COSCO Shipping Bulk, Beihai Shipbuilding, and China Shipbuilding Trading.