A group of four European and Canadian shipowners have joined forces on a new four-ship product tanker order in China, bringing Furetank's long-running Vinga series to a total of 26 vessels.

Two of the 17,999 dwt newbuilds will go to FureBear, the 50/50 joint venture between Sweden's Furetank and Canada's Algoma Central Corporation. Swedish owner Älvtank is taking another vessel, while Norway's O.H. Meling is joining the Vinga programme for the first time.

The quartet is to be constructed at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Yangzhou, with deliveries scheduled for 2028 and 2029. All four ships will fly the Swedish flag, enter the Gothia Tanker Alliance and be commercially managed by Furetank Chartering. No contract price has been disclosed.

For O.H. Meling, the order also serves as a fleet renewal measure. The Norwegian company said its two existing intermediate tankers are approaching the 20-year age threshold for trading in the European tanker market, an age limit that effectively pushes older tonnage out of quality-charterer trading patterns in the region and underpins steady replacement demand.

Älvtank, which already owns three Vinga ships dating back to the original series, will increase its exposure in the programme to four vessels with the latest order. The company said it sees continued demand for intermediate tonnage as European liquid bulk trades shift increasingly towards biofuels, renewable feedstocks and chemicals, cargoes where the vessels' cargo-segregation flexibility and clean-tank standards are well suited to smaller parcel sizes in northern European trades.

The new contracts extend a building programme that Splash has tracked for several years. In July 2022, Splash reported Furetank's order for what was then the 11th Vinga-class tanker. Later that year, Furetank and Algoma doubled their FureBear joint venture programme from four to eight ships, all built at the same Yangzhou yard.

By February 2024, the series had grown to 21 ships, when Furetank added two further units for delivery at the end of 2026. At the time, Splash reported that 19 of the 21 ships would be commercially managed by Furetank, with 14 fully operated by the Swedish owner.

The latest quartet lifts the Vinga tally to 26, more than doubling the programme compared with the level reported by Splash four years ago, and the 2028–2029 delivery window places the ships well into the period when the EU's FuelEU Maritime regulation and tightening IMO carbon-intensity requirements raise the compliance value of fuel-flexible, battery-hybrid tonnage.

The Vinga design, developed by Furetank together with FKAB Marine Design, features ice class 1A, 12 cargo tanks and the ability to run on LNG, liquid biomethane or gasoil. The design also incorporates battery-hybrid systems and shore-power capability.