Ardmore expands clean tanker fleet amid volatile Hormuz outlook in International Shipping News 22/06/2026 Ardmore Shipping has doubled its newbuild orderbook to four product and chemical tankers, exercising options for two additional 40,500-deadweight ton Handysize tankers at China’s Wuhu Shipyard as the company positions for prolonged volatility in tanker markets following any reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The expanded order, announced in a June 16 press release, brings Ardmore’s total commitment to four vessels with deliveries scheduled from late 2028 onward, with two further options secured at similar terms. The company originally ordered two newbuilds earlier this year with full IMO2 specifications, allowing the tankers to carry crude, refined products and the full range of chemical cargoes without conversion work, Gernot Ruppelt, chief executive of Ardmore, said in an interview at the Marine Money Conference in New York on June 16. “These are multi-decade investment decisions, and it can secure optionality beyond sort of your standard mainstream trades. It’s almost a no-brainer,” Ruppelt said in the interview. The incremental cost for marine line coatings at the newbuild stage to achieve IMO2 specifications is about $3 million per ship compared with standard specifications, he said. The timing of the expanded order follows Ardmore’s sale of a 2014-built vessel for $35.5 million around the start of the war in Iran, capturing a 30%-35% price appreciation from secondhand acquisitions made in spring 2025, Ruppelt said. Market outlook Ardmore expects six to nine months of disrupted trade flows as the industry adjusts to new supply chain priorities following any reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, with executives forecasting competing arbitrage opportunities that should support freight rates. Around 130 product tankers remain trapped in the Persian Gulf following months of disruption, according to a previous statement by Ardmore. Those ships’ return to service wo