South Korea’s Kukje Maritime Investment Corp (Kmarin) has finally put pen to paper for a series of very large ore carrier (VLOC) newbuildings at two shipyards in China.

Industry players say Kmarin is behind the recent order of two 325,000-dwt ore carriers - also known as Guaibamaxes - which Singapore-listed Yangzijiang Shipbuilding announced earlier today.

In addition to the pair of newbuildings at Yangzijiang, Kmarin has also booked two similar size vessels at Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry, shipbuilding sources told TradeWinds.