Precious Shipping Public Company Limited has committed USD 141.80 million (THB 4,767.32 million) to four new 64,500 DWT Ultramax bulk carriers ordered from China's Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering Co., Ltd., with the contracts signed on 30 September 2026 and pending customary effectiveness conditions.

The Thai-listed owner said the additions will lift its controlled fleet to 47 vessels totalling about 2,335,869 DWT once deliveries complete alongside the two Ultramaxes already on order but not yet delivered. Each hull costs USD 35.45 million, with payments split across five shipyard milestones.

Why is Precious Shipping adding tonnage now?

The buyer framed the four-ship package as a fleet-rejuvenation play. The Taizhou Sanfu design carries more deadweight than the previous Ultramax generation in the Precious book, an upgraded propulsion package, a shaft generator, and hull-form and energy-saving refinements that the company expects to cut fuel burn per ton-mile. Precious Shipping's filing described the headline contract price as "very competitive under current market conditions."

The financing mix is conventional for the segment: internal cash reserves topped up with debt from financial institutions. The 25% first instalment per ship falls due within five banking days of Precious Shipping receiving a refund guarantee that covers that payment; subsequent tranches of 15% fall due on steel-cutting, 10% on keel-laying, 10% on launch, and the final 40% against delivery.

What does the order book look like afterwards?

Including the four new Taizhou Sanfu hulls and the two already on order, Precious Shipping's fleet will rise to 47 vessels aggregating roughly 2.34 million DWT. That scale keeps the company in the mid-tier Thai bulker bracket, where fuel efficiency and age increasingly decide which units hold preference with South American grain charterers and Atlantic handysize-lite business.

Counterparty risk sits with Taizhou Sanfu, a Chinese yard with no prior business relationship with Precious Shipping, so refund guarantees from a seller's bank are structurally critical to the buyer's downside protection. The five-tranche payment ladder means 65% of each hull's price remains at risk until after launch, limiting Precious Shipping's exposure if the yard falters before then.

What do the unit economics suggest?

At roughly USD 35.45 million per Ultramax with the design upgrades loaded in, the implied price sits near the upper end of recent comparable newbuild transactions for the size class. Charter market participants read that as Taizhou Sanfu capturing margin through specification rather than on the headline figure. The vessel economics will turn on whether the promised fuel savings translate into a TCE premium when the hulls enter the water, expected from late 2027 onwards.

For charterers and forwarders moving grain, ores, and minor bulks, four more Ultramaxes landing the global orderbook reinforces the supply pressure already weighing on the size bracket that dominates tonne-miles in the 60,000–65,000 DWT range. The efficiency step-change may compress the bid-ask spread between eco-tier and older tonnage in the next chartering cycle.

What happens next?

The 30 September signings convert into effective contracts once both sides satisfy conditions precedent — the seller receives the first instalments and Precious Shipping receives the refund guarantees. Until that paperwork clears, the four hulls remain optional in accounting terms. Watch the next quarterly filing for confirmation of contract effectiveness, and the broader yard slot pipeline for whether Taizhou Sanfu's orderbook momentum continues into 2027.