Italian tanker owner Navigazione Montanari is stepping up its fleet renewal drive with two LR2 product tankers ordered at China’s Hengli Heavy Industry.

The ships have been booked through Malta-based affiliate Pemont， opening a new shipbuilding relationship with the fast-growing Dalian yard. Price， delivery dates and propulsion details have not been disclosed. Hengli’s standard LR2 design is around 114，000 dwt.

The order builds on Montanari’s return to the newbuilding market in 2024， when the Fano-based owner contracted 41，000 dwt MR1s at Yangzijiang Shipbuilding for delivery in 2027. Those vessels were its first reported newbuildings since 2006.

Montanari has also been consolidating ownership of its existing fleet. In 2023， the company exercised purchase options on eight product tankers built in 2007 and 2008 that had previously been sold and chartered back. This was followed by the addition of younger MR units last year.

Pemont’s existing fleet is dominated by older tonnage. The company lists nine tankers delivered between 2007 and 2009， while external fleet databases count 10 ships totalling around 635，000 dwt.

The Hengli pair will significantly increase the size of the group’s newbuilding programme and， if built to the yard’s standard design， become the largest ships in the Pemont fleet.

Hengli has been building up its LR2 backlog this year， with Greek owners Arcadia Shipmanagement and Thenamaris among recent names to have booked the tanker type at the yard.