Veritas linked to six chemical tanker order worth $248 million

By Elena Vasquez

A package of up to six 13,000-deadweight-tonne (dwt) stainless-steel chemical tankers, including options, ordered from China’s Nantong Rainbow Offshore & Engineering Equipment carries a potential value of CNY1.5 billion to CNY1.65 billion, or $225 million to $248 million. Jiangsu Rainbow Heavy Industries, the yard’s Shenzhen-listed parent, confirmed the order with an unnamed European owner in a stock-exchange filing.

Shipbroking sources identify Sweden’s Rederi AB Veritas Tankers as the buyer, although the shipowner has not publicly confirmed its involvement. Rainbow has withheld the customer’s identity for commercial confidentiality, leaving the attribution dependent on those sources. If all six vessels enter the program, their combined nominal deadweight capacity would reach 78,000 dwt.

What does the order mean for Veritas?

Veritas Tankers currently operates five chemical tankers, making the potential six-vessel package larger than its present fleet. If every option converts and all six ships arrive, the fleet could reach 11 tankers, a 120% increase from its current level. Ove Johnsson has wholly owned and controlled Veritas since 2022.

The expansion does not yet equal six confirmed additions. Rainbow has not disclosed how many vessels are firm and how many remain optional, so the order’s minimum delivery count remains unknown. Deliveries are scheduled to begin 28 months after signing, but the announcement provides no date to turn that interval into a calendar launch.

For shippers, the order adds no available ships at signing. It could eventually provide stainless-steel tonnage designed for restricted waterways and northern European operating conditions. Forwarders have no basis to include the vessels in current routing assumptions until the firm-option split and deployment plan become public.

What has Rainbow committed?

Rainbow has confirmed a program of up to six 13,000-dwt stainless-steel chemical tankers, but its filing does not divide the total between firm orders and options. The structure gives Veritas flexibility over fleet growth and Rainbow less certainty about how many units it must construct.

The newbuildings are intended for parcel chemical trades. Their design suits restricted waterways and operating conditions in northern Europe, making them relevant to specialist users. The available information gives no charter rate, cargo commitment, trading route or future deployment.

How does the deal compare with earlier orders?

Rainbow previously secured an order from Germany’s John T. Essberger for two firm 13,000-dwt stainless-steel chemical tankers and four options, with deliveries starting in 2027. Splash reported that program in September 2024. It forms part of Essberger’s fleet-renewal drive and its investment in the E&S Tankers Pool operated with Stolt Tankers.

The current package matches the yard’s earlier 13,000-dwt stainless-steel specification and includes an undisclosed number of options. The earlier order brought two committed vessels and four options; the newer package could add six more from another European customer. For Rainbow, the deal extends its chemical tanker business at the Nantong yard.

The schedules do not establish whether the Veritas-linked ships will arrive before or after Essberger’s 2027 deliveries. The newer program depends on an undisclosed signing date plus 28 months. Shippers and forwarders should therefore treat the vessels as schedule-sensitive potential capacity, not a dated delivery wave.

What should freight buyers watch?

• Shippers: Shippers of parcel chemicals could gain more tonnage suited to northern European operations if all six vessels materialize, but the 28-month lead time keeps the order focused on future rather than current equipment availability.
• Carriers: Veritas could more than double its five-vessel fleet under the full program, although the undisclosed option split makes the eventual size of that expansion uncertain.
• Forwarders: No charter rate, cargo commitment or vessel deployment accompanies the announcement, so brokers cannot yet translate the order into route-specific price or equipment assumptions.
• Builders and owners: Disclosure of the contract-signing date and firm-vessel count would clarify the first delivery year and how much of the stated 78,000-dwt maximum becomes usable capacity.

The next capacity signal will require the firm-option split and contract-signing date, neither disclosed in the current information. Those figures will determine when the first 13,000-dwt tanker can enter service and how much of the stated 78,000-dwt maximum becomes firm capacity.