Yangzijiang Maritime secures US$89.8 million in leasing agreements for 13 vessels
CEO Ren Yuanlin cites the ‘tonnage-mile’ effect and a ‘vital’ fleet-renewal cycle as tailwinds
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[SINGAPORE] Yangzijiang Maritime has secured leasing agreements worth US$89.8 million covering 13 vessels, as it looks to build recurring income streams against a backdrop of tightening global shipping capacity.
The agreements cover 12 oil, chemical and product tankers, as well as one anchor handling tug supply vessel. Lease periods range from one to eight years, said the group in a bourse filing on Tuesday (Apr 14).
Yangzijiang Maritime said that the deals are “expected to have a positive contribution on the group’s financial performance” throughout their duration.
Executive chairman and chief executive Ren Yuanlin said that “structural shifts in trade dynamics” underpin the group’s optimism.
He noted that geopolitical tensions were forcing vessels onto “longer, more complex routes”, creating a significant “tonnage-mile” effect that is constraining global shipping capacity.
“Yangzijiang Maritime’s asset-light market entry strategy and diversified business model enable the group to deploy capital across leasing, chartering and vessel sales, generating resilient, multi-source returns throughout market cycles,” he added.
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Ren also pointed to “the contraction in constrained shipyard capacity, evolving maritime conditions, and sustained demand from global trade flows” as having necessitated a “vital” fleet-renewal cycle.
This is creating a “highly favourable environment” for the group’s maritime asset portfolio, he noted.
Yangzijiang Maritime operates by tapping strategic relationships with second-tier and third-tier Chinese shipyards to secure new-building slots at discounted prices.
The group said that this, combined with “in-house technical oversight”, enables it to procure new-builds at “up to 20 per cent below prevailing first-tier market prices”. Those vessels are then either pre-sold for capital gains or chartered out for recurring income.
As at Dec 31, 2025, Yangzijiang Maritime had 85 vessels in its maritime asset portfolio, including new-building orders. It also had net assets attributable to equity holders of about US$1.6 billion, or US$0.4657 per share.
The group reported then a net cash position of US$400.4 million, which Ren said gives it the “financial flexibility” to pursue opportunities targeting project internal rates of return of between 10 and 15 per cent, with scope to enhance returns through leverage.
Shares of Yangzijiang Maritime rose 5.6 per cent or S$0.035 to close at S$0.66, before the bourse filing.
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