Greek shipowner Evalend Shipping has been identified in market reports as the customer behind a lapsed option for a fourth 211,000 dwt newcastlemax bulk carrier at China’s Dajin Heavy Industry, according to Splash247. The decision removes a prospective CNY525m ($78m) vessel from the shipbuilder’s order pipeline, while leaving the three contracted ships in place.
Dajin said the option formed part of a three-plus-one agreement signed in July. Following discussions between the parties, the Greek customer chose not to take up the additional vessel and the option expired. The firm portion of the contract, held by subsidiary Tangshan Dajin, is worth CNY1.575bn, or about $235m. Those three vessels are scheduled for completion during 2029 and 2030. Exercising the option would have taken the agreement’s total value to CNY2.1bn ($313m).
The shipbuilder said the customer’s decision neither breached the contract nor incurred penalties. It also said it anticipated no material effect on its production timetable or financial performance for 2026. The change therefore concerns an optional addition to the series rather than the cancellation of any of the three firm orders.
Dajin did not name the buyer in its filing. Splash247 noted that Chinese shipbuilding market reports had associated the agreement with Evalend, which is led by Kriton Lendoudis. The outlet had also reported Evalend as the buyer when it covered the original agreement in July, describing the deal as the owner’s move into the newcastlemax segment. Evalend has subsequently been linked to other Asian tanker and bulker investments, including four LR1 product tankers at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding.
Dajin’s other Greek newcastlemax customers include John Coustas-led Danaos Corporation, with four 211,000 dwt ships due in 2028, and the Adrianopoulos family’s Cape Shipping, which has ordered two vessels of the same size for 2029. Splash247 put Cape Shipping’s agreement at roughly $153m and the combined value of those two owners’ programmes at about $450m.