COSCO SHIPPING Development has placed an order worth approximately US$1.17 billion for 15 Newcastlemax bulk carriers, each with a deadweight of 210,000 DWT. The contract, valued at RMB7.92 billion, will be split between two Chinese shipyards: Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding will build 10 vessels for RMB5.28 billion, and Nantong Xiangyu Marine Equipment will construct five vessels for RMB2.64 billion. Each ship is priced uniformly at RMB528 million (about