Diana Shipping Orders Two Methanol Dual-fuel Bulkers

Greek shipowner Diana Shipping on Wednesday announced it has placed an order for two new methanol dual-fuel Kamsarmax bulk carriers from China's Tsuneishi Group (Zhoushan) Shipbuilding Inc.

The 81,200 dwt newbuilds were ordered at a purchase price of $46 million each, Diana said. The vessels are expected to be delivered by the second half of 2027 and the first half of 2028, respectively.

Diana in September 2023 announced it signed a letter of intent (LOI) to order the ships through an unaffiliated third-party nominee of Marubeni Corporation.

Capable of operating on either methanol or fuel oil interchangeably, the new ships are designed to meet the requirements for energy efficiency levels and associated Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, as set forth in the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) Phase 3, as well as to comply with the NOx emissions regulations (NOx-Tier III) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). When powered by green methanol, the vessels will produce near-zero GHG emissions based on the well-to-wake (WTW) fuel life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology.

Excluding the two newbuilds, and upon completion of the previously announced sale of Artemis, Diana Shipping’s fleet will consist of 39 dry bulk vessels, including four Newcastlemax, nine Capesize, five Post-Panamax, six Kamsarmax, six Panamax and nine Ultramax.