Veritas linked to Chinese chemical tanker order worth up to $248m

Sweden’s Rederi AB Veritas Tankers has been identified as the owner behind an order covering as many as six 13,000 dwt stainless steel chemical tankers at China’s Nantong Rainbow Offshore & Engineering Equipment, Splash247 reported. The package includes options and carries a potential value of $248m, although the Swedish company has not publicly confirmed that it is the buyer.

Jiangsu Rainbow Heavy Industries, the shipyard’s Shenzhen-listed parent, disclosed the agreement in a stock exchange filing but described its customer only as a European owner. It valued the full six-vessel package at CNY1.5bn-CNY1.65bn, equivalent to $225m-$248m. Splash247 attributed the identification of Veritas to shipbroking sources, while Rainbow cited commercial confidentiality as the reason for keeping the customer’s name private.

The division between firm orders and optional vessels has not been disclosed, leaving the number of ships committed under the agreement unspecified. According to the Chinese group, deliveries are due to start 28 months after signing. The vessels are designed for parcel chemical shipping, with features suited to the restricted waterways and operating conditions encountered in northern Europe.

The contract brings another European customer into Rainbow’s chemical tanker business. Splash247 noted that the Nantong yard had previously won an order from Germany’s John T. Essberger for two firm 13,000 dwt stainless steel chemical tankers, alongside options for a further four. Deliveries under that separate programme are scheduled to begin in 2027.

Splash247 first covered the Essberger programme in September 2024, linking it to the German owner’s fleet renewal plans and investment in the E&S Tankers Pool, which it operates with Stolt Tankers. Veritas, meanwhile, currently operates five chemical tankers. The Swedish shipowner has been wholly owned and controlled by Ove Johnsson since 2022. Its reported involvement in the latest Rainbow agreement remains based on broker identification rather than a public announcement from Veritas itself.