Monaco-based Scorpio Tankers has made a surprise return to the crude carrier newbuilding market after more than a decade, signing up for two very large crude carriers (VLCCs) at South Korean yard Hanwha Ocean.
The New York-listed product tanker giant has inked letters of intent for the 320,000 dwt units, each priced at around $128m. Deliveries are scheduled for the third and fourth quarters of 2028.
The move marks Scorpio’s first VLCC order since it exited the crude sector in 2014, when it sold seven VLCC newbuilding contracts — five at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (now Hanwha Ocean) and two at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries — for about $735m.
Chairman and CEO Emanuele Lauro said the investment reflects the group’s “long-term view of the fundamentals of the crude tanker market,” noting that the orders “position the company to benefit directly from a constructive crude tanker market.”
The VLCC deal follows Scorpio’s recent purchase of four MR newbuilding resales in China. The scrubber-fitted tankers, under construction at Jingjiang Nanyang Shipbuilding, cost about $45m apiece with deliveries between the second quarter of 2026 and mid-2027.
Scorpio currently owns or leases 98 product tankers with an average age of 9.6 years, comprising 38 LR2s, 46 MRs and 14 handymaxes. The company has also agreed to sell four MR and two LR2 vessels, with deliveries stretching into early 2026.
Scorpio’s return to the VLCC sector comes as Hanwha Ocean cements its position as one of the key builders in the latest wave of crude carrier orders. Greek owners, including Capital, Tsakos, Chandris and newcomer Carlova Maritime, all have VLCCs on order at the yard, alongside Swiss-based Advantage Tankers, Oman’s Asyad Shipping, and VLCC specialist DHT — in which Scorpio holds about 1.17m shares. Scorpio also recently emerged as a backer of Tor Olav Trøim’s VLCC venture Bruton and its newbuilding programme at China’s New Times Shipbuilding.
