Euronav NVis pleased to announce that it has concluded an order for two bitumen tankers with China Merchants Jinling Shipyard  Dingheng . The vessels are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2026 and have been chartered to a strong counterparty for 10 years upon delivery from the shipyard.

The vessels will have dual-fuel green methanol engines that are ready to be retrofitted for future operation on ammonia. Worldwide there are 230 bitumen tankers with an average age of 15 years. The ordered vessels’ deadweight will be 17,000 tons, which is twice the 8,000 ton average of the existing fleet.

Bitumen tankers are tankers that mainly carry asphalt at a temperature of 250 degrees.

Euronav & CMB.TECH are committed to become the reference in sustainable shipping by focusing on diversification, optimisation & decarbonisation.

The group also announced two time charter contracts with Valero in December 2023. Earlier this year, CMB.TECH & Euronav announced the construction of the world’s first ammonia-fuelled container ship in partnership with NCL and Yara. With the addition of the charters for the two new bitumen tanker charters, the total contract backlog of Euronav amounts to 1,975 million USD.

Alexander Saverys, CEO Euronav: “With the new orders for two state-of-the-art and green newbuilding bitumen tankers, we continue to execute our strategy of diversification and decarbonisation of our fleet. In recent months, we have secured a total of 55 years of time charter cover thanks to the great support of top-class companies. This proves that our customers are ready to partner up with Euronav and CMB.TECH to develop future-proof solutions for the shipping industry. We will continue to develop innovative low carbon solutions for our customers and will accelerate our investments in the maritime energy transition. Decarbonise today, navigate tomorrow!”