China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) is continuing to grow its fleet with four more newbuild vessels.

The Shanghai-listed energy transport unit of China Merchants Group said its board had approved the construction of two 175，000 cu m liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers and two aframax tankers.

CMES has not named its yard of choice， which most likely will be Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC)， where the state-owned shipowner currently has six LNG ships and a trio of aframaxes set to deliver between 2024 and 2026.

In September， CMES signed a deal for two dual-fuel LNG carriers at Dalian and a letter of intent for an additional four units， two of which were approved for construction last December.