China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) has signed a contract for the construction of ten very large crude carriers (VLCCs) at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corp.
The new vessels will be 306,000 DWT conventional fuel VLCCs, equipped with exhaust gas cleaning systems and shaft generators. They are also designed to allow potential future conversion to dual-fuel propulsion. Deliveries are scheduled between the first half of 2028 and the second half of 2030, with the first two ships arriving in 2028.
As of the end of 2025, CMES operated 51 VLCCs totaling around 16.11 million DWT, with an average fleet age of 10.3 years. Prior to this order, five VLCCs were already under construction. The latest batch will help optimize fleet structure, modernize shipping capacity, and consolidate CMES’s global role in VLCC operations.
CMES has maintained a long-term partnership with Dalian Shipbuilding Industry, which has delivered more than 50 vessels to the company since 2007. The order also follows CMES’s recent expansion into the shuttle tanker segment, including a 154,000 DWT vessel built earlier this year.
