Asyad Shipping orders two MR product tankers at HD Hyundai

Asyad Shipping Company confirmed Sept. 11 it had ordered two medium-range product tankers from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, expanding an ongoing fleet modernization program in South Korea.

The follow-on contract is valued at 39.89 million Omani rials ($103.6 million), according to a regulatory disclosure. Asyad Shipping said it will finance the construction through a combination of cash reserves and debt borrowing.

Both vessels will have a cargo carrying capacity of 49,999 deadweight tons. Each tanker enters a firm five-year time-charter contract with an unnamed global energy company immediately upon handover from the shipyard.

Deliveries are scheduled for 2029 from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan. The addition expands Asyad's medium-range tanker program at the South Korean shipbuilder to eight sister vessels worth a combined $411.6 million.

The contract builds directly on an agreement signed July 8 for six identical product carriers. Parent group HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering reported that initial six-ship contract at 469.9 billion won ($308 million).

Unit pricing across all eight hulls remains steady at approximately $51.8 million per ship. That stability demonstrates resilient shipyard pricing power for clean product tankers, even for delivery windows extending nearly four years out.

Asyad Shipping designed the newbuilding series to replace aging tonnage built between 2008 and 2009. The modern hulls incorporate energy-saving devices and efficient propulsion engines to lower voyage fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Chief Executive Officer Ibrahim Al-Nadhairi said the follow-on order reinforces the company's fleet strategy. He noted that pairing new vessel construction with secured multi-year charter employment protects capital investment across broader shipping market cycles.

Asyad Shipping operates a diversified fleet of more than 90 vessels totaling 11.4 million deadweight tons. Its active portfolio includes 35 clean product tankers alongside crude carriers, liquefied natural gas vessels, bulk carriers and container ships.

The state-backed shipping company listed its shares on the Muscat Stock Exchange in March 2025. By late 2025, Asyad held contracted forward revenue of $2.2 billion extending beyond 2030, supported by fixed industrial employment terms.

Fleet expansion this year has reached beyond the tanker segment into dry bulk logistics. Asyad acquired two modern kamsarmax bulk carriers for $72.7 million in April, followed by two larger 100,309 deadweight-ton bulk vessels in May.

The product tanker investments align with a strategic downstream shift across Middle Eastern energy producers. Regional oil companies are processing more raw crude domestically, expanding petrochemical refining complexes to export finished fuels rather than unprocessed hydrocarbons.

Oman has expanded refined output through facilities such as the 230,000-barrel-per-day Duqm refinery. Securing national tonnage allows Middle Eastern energy exporters to move high-value fuels directly to Asian and European buyers without relying on foreign charter tonnage.

Product tankers — vessels built to transport refined petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel — face structurally higher fleet replacement demands globally. Tighter international environmental regulations are accelerating the retirement of older single-fuel vessels.

For South Korean shipbuilders, persistent demand for medium-range tankers provides steady baseload work. Yards under HD Hyundai have captured repeated series orders from international owners seeking proven hull designs and reliable delivery execution.

South Korean shipping line HMM placed an order this month for up to four 50,000 deadweight-ton product tankers at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. That contract was valued at approximately $52 million per ship.

The repeated awards maintain strong momentum for HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering. By August, the shipbuilding group had booked 139 vessels worth $16.03 billion, achieving nearly 80% of its annual order target of $22.31 billion.

The sustained flow of commercial contracts is tightening berth availability across major South Korean shipyards. Docks at Ulsan, Geoje and Yeongam are largely occupied through 2027 and 2028 by high-value gas carriers and container vessels.

Committing 2029 construction slots to standardized product tankers allows HD Hyundai to optimize manufacturing schedules. Constructing an eight-ship series of identical sister vessels minimizes engineering overhead, stabilizes procurement schedules and protects margins against volatile material prices.

The disclosure documents do not identify the global energy company chartering the two vessels, and Asyad Shipping has not published daily charter rate figures.

In South Korea, HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering has not published a separate regulatory filing on the Korea Exchange regarding the latest two-vessel option exercise as of Sept. 11.

The two product tankers will enter service under their five-year charter commitments in 2029, while Asyad Shipping prepares to take delivery of 11 earlier ordered vessels across 2026 and 2027.