(Yicai) Oct. 28 -- Shares of Rainbow Heavy Industries advanced after the Chinese manufacturer of port and offshore engineering equipment secured a contract worth up to CNY1.65 billion (USD247.5 million) to build six chemical tankers for a European client.

Rainbow Heavy [SHE: 002483] was trading up 1.7 percent at CNY5.38 (80 US cents) as of 1.30 p.m. in Shenzhen today, after earlier gaining as much as 3.4 percent.

Rainbow Heavy’s subsidiary Rainbow Offshore and Engineering Equipment, also known as ROC, signed a contract with a well-known European shipowner to build six stainless steel chemical tankers with a capacity of 13,000 deadweight tons each, its Nantong-based parent company announced yesterday.

The order, with deliveries in batches starting from the 28th month after the contract takes effect, is worth between CNY1.5 billion and CNY1.65 billion, equal to 22 percent to 24 percent of the firm’s operating revenue last year, Rainbow Heavy noted, without revealing any further details.

The client is a well-known European enterprise engaged in chemical transportation, with which Rainbow Heavy and ROC have not had any transactions in the past three years.

This is the second big order for building 13,000DWT stainless steel chemical tankers received by ROC in recent years. The firm started construction of the first three 13,000DWT stainless steel chemical tankers for German shipowner Essberger Tankers in November last year and in April and on Oct. 20 this year, according to its website.

This is also the second special vessel construction contract ROC has signed with European shipowners in over two months. Rainbow Heavy announced in August that ROC would build six live fish carriers with a capacity of 4,500 cubic meters each for another well-known European shipowner, with a maximum transaction amount of CNY3.3 billion.

Editor: Futura Costaglione