JP Morgan lifts VLCC orderbook to 12 ships with $267m Hanwha deal

JP Morgan has ordered two more VLCC newbuildings at South Korea's Hanwha Ocean for KRW356.8bn ($267m), lifting the US banking giant's crude tanker orderbook to 12 vessels across yards in China and South Korea. The fresh pair, priced at roughly $133.5m apiece, will be constructed at Hanwha's Geoje yard and delivered in the second half of 2030.

Shipbuilding sources traced the contract to JP Morgan's maritime investment arm after Hanwha disclosed the deal with an unnamed Bermuda-based shipowner. The commitment takes the group's reported VLCC newbuilding spending to approximately $1.55bn, capping an ordering campaign that has gathered pace throughout 2026.

Why does one bank keep buying tankers?

The latest deal is JP Morgan's second VLCC order at Hanwha Ocean this year. In July, the group was linked to another two 320,000 dwt VLCCs at the same yard under a KRW394.3bn ($265m) contract placed by an unnamed North American owner. Those ships, priced at about $132.5m each, are scheduled for delivery by March 2020's final quarter — March 2030 at the latest — and brought the bank's tanker orderbook to ten vessels at the time.

China figures in the campaign too. Earlier this year, a JP Morgan-backed shipowning outfit was linked to two firm 307,000 dwt VLCCs at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co (DSIC), with options for another pair. Those vessels cost roughly $123m each — about $10m less than the Korean-built units — and are lined up for delivery in 2029.

The price gap between the yards is telling. At around $123m per ship, DSIC undercut Hanwha Ocean's $132.5m–$133.5m range by 7–8%, yet JP Morgan has placed the bulk of its tonnage, ten of twelve hulls, in South Korea. The pattern suggests the investor is paying a premium for Korean delivery slots and build quality as it assembles a fleet for the end of the decade.

Crude tankers are not the bank's only shipping interest. JP Morgan's newbuilding commitments now span LNG carriers, VLGCs and suezmax tankers, signalling a broad institutional bet across energy shipping segments rather than a single trade play.

What does the deal mean for Hanwha Ocean?

For the South Korean builder, the JP Morgan contract brings its VLCC order intake for 2026 to 21 vessels. Hanwha Ocean has now secured 44 orders worth about $8.11bn this year, a tally that includes:

• 21 VLCCs
• eight LNG carriers
• six containerships
• three very large ammonia carriers
• three VLGCs

That orderbook, built on tankers, gas carriers and boxships alike, gives the Geoje-based yard revenue visibility well into the next decade.

What comes next?

With deliveries from JP Morgan's programme staggered between 2029 and late 2030, roughly 4 million dwt of new crude shipping capacity will enter the market from a single financial owner within two years. Whether that tonnage tightens or loosens freight markets depends on the pace of VLCC scrapping over the same window — a variable owners and charterers will watch as the 2030 delivery dates approach.