Some early newbuild slots are opening at a premier Chinese shipyard. Yangzijiang Shipbuilding has revealed it has just axed four MR tanker newbuilding contracts worth around $180m after discovering links between the buyer’s shareholder and alleged efforts to circumvent US sanctions.
The Singapore-listed builder said three of its subsidiaries — Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding, Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding and Jiangsu Yangzi Xinfu — had terminated the contracts, which covered four 50,000 dwt MRs due for delivery in 2026–27.
The move follows “critical information just disclosed by the buyer,” Yangzijiang said in a stock exchange filing. Legal advice concluded that the revelations amounted to a breach of contract, or alternatively rendered the deals void through “supervening illegality” tied to the buyer’s payment obligations.
Yangzijiang confirmed it has received $22.5m in deposits — equal to 15% of the contract value — including instalments on one ship where construction had already started. The group said it has reserved all legal rights against the buyer and stressed that no revenue or profit had been booked to date, meaning the cancellations will have no material impact on 2025 earnings.
The episode underscores the heightened compliance risks facing Asian shipyards as sanctions enforcement intensifies against shipping networks tied to Russia, Iran and other restricted regimes.
Yangzijiang, China’s largest private shipbuilder, has a record orderbook spanning bulkers, containerships, gas carriers and tankers.
