Japan's Usuki Shipyard, specialized in building chemical carriers for ten years, inked its first new order for bulker.
Recently ordered two 16,000-dwt bulkers were booked from overseas owner through a trading company in September, with delivery in the end of 2012 and early 2013. Now the Usuki-based shipbuilder secures capacity by October 2012 on the basis of launching.
Japanese shipyards which used to mainly build chemical carriers are now eyeing into bulkers owing to depressing newbuilding order demand for chemical carriers.
Usuki's newly ordered bulkers, 134.5m in length, 22.2m in breadth and 12.0m in depth, are to be paid by 100% yen-denominated of unrevealed newbuilding price.
Newbuilding of over 10,000-dwt bulker is the first for the yard, which had an experience of delivering 9,000-dwt cargo ship in 2000.
Starting from the end of last year, chemical carrier-centered Kitanihon Shipbuilding, Fukuoka Shipbuilding, Sasaki Shipbuilding, and others carry out booking new order for bulkers. Recent new order trend seems to expand henceforward.