China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) is strengthening its fleet with 10 tanker newbuilds at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co (DSIC).

The Shanghai-listed diversified shipping arm of China Merchants Group said in a filing it would be paying nearly $930m ($927m) in total for a series of five VLCCs and five aframax/LR2 product carriers.

CMES has been renewing its fleet in several segments and currently has a large shipbuilding programme， either independently or in partnership with leasing outfits， that includes bulkers， car carriers， some of the largest LNG carriers， and the world’s first methanol dual-fuel VLCC.

The 306，000 dtw and 115，000 dwt newbuilds will feature scrubbers and ammonia-ready engines， with delivery scheduled for 2027 and 2028. Clarksons’ data shows a combined ammonia-ready fleet and orderbook at about 430 ships. Still， the shipbroker noted that with no ammonia dual fuel 2-stroke engine yet commercially available， ammonia fuel optionality has been in focus in 2024， with some 90 newbuilding orders year to date.