Greek tanker owner Liquimar Tankers has contracted three 157,000 dwt suezmax newbuildings at Jiangsu New Hantong Ship Heavy Industry for close to $258m, or just under $86m per vessel, according to shipbuilding sources. The deal adds fresh crude carrier capacity to a Greek fleet that had been absent from newbuilding berths for years — and it lands just months after the company cashed in on the secondhand market.

What has Liquimar ordered?

The Dimitris Papadimitriou-controlled company signed for three conventionally fuelled suezmaxes scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2030, shipbuilding sources said. At an estimated price of just under $86m apiece, the programme represents a total commitment of roughly $258m.

The order extends a building pattern that re-emerged this summer. In August, shipbuilding intelligence identified Liquimar as the owner of the 113,500 dwt aframax/LR2 Priamos under construction at Hengli Heavy Industries — the Athens-based owner's first newbuilding move after a lengthy pause.

Where did the money come from?

The new order follows Liquimar's disposal of two ageing suezmaxes, the 2007-built Orpheas and Evridiki, sold to Dubai-based energy trader Onex DMCC for a reported $68m each. The pair generated approximately $136m in gross proceeds, with both transactions recorded in September market data.

That trade captured the strong secondhand tanker market: the two 18-year-old vessels fetched a combined price approaching a third of what Liquimar will now pay for three modern, larger-tonnage replacements arriving in 2030. The pattern — sell ageing steel high, order efficient new tonnage — mirrors the fleet-renewal playbook other Greek owners have run through the recent tanker cycle.

Who is Liquimar?

The company was set up in 1990 as a vehicle for its parent, Dioryx Maritime Corp, to expand from dry cargo and containerships into the oil tanker sector. It became a standalone entity in 1995.

What does it mean for the orderbook?

The Liquimar trio adds another name to New Hantong's growing suezmax orderbook. Earlier this year, Eyal Ofer's Zodiac Maritime contracted four suezmaxes at the same Chinese yard for 2029 delivery, taking its programme in the segment to nine vessels.

For the crude trades, the message is capacity on a clock. Two owners have now committed twelve suezmaxes at a single Chinese yard, with deliveries starting in 2029 and running through 2030. Shippers and charterers watching tonnage supply should note the timing: these ships hit the water well after the current order cycle's earlier slots, meaning any rate support from fleet scrapping and slow ordering in crude segments faces a measurable test in the second half of the decade.