Arne Fredly's Hunter Group has ordered its eighth VLCC newbuilding at DSME in South Korea and has decided to speed up deliveries of three other ships.
The Oslo-listed company said the scrubber-fitted, 300,000-dwt eco tanker will be delivered in July 2020.
It has not revealed the price but said it had pushed out the declaration date for its three remaining optional vessels from October to 15 January.
These are priced at $92m each and would be handed over in the first half of 2021, giving it 11 new ships if the options are exercised.
DSME has agreed to Hunter's request for a speedier delivery of three VLCCs due in 2020.
They will now come in March, May and July, as opposed to May, June and August.
"We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with DSME for the acquisition of one additional vessel at what we consider to be a very attractive price and delivery time," said CEO Erik Frydendal.
"With this acquisition we have eight sister vessels under construction at DSME, all outfitted with scrubbers from market leading producer Wartsila."
More tankers more quickly
He added that the quicker deliveries will give it a larger fleet earlier, "in what we believe will be a strong tanker market."
DSME CEO Jung Sung-leep added: "We are very pleased to have further strengthened our partnership with Hunter Group through this additional newbuilding deal after seven VLCC newbuilding orders already having been placed.
"We appreciate Hunter Group and Mr Fredly's trust in DSME and will reciprocate this trust with the best quality, advanced technology and on time delivery of all the vessels in the series."
Frydendal told TradeWinds in October: “Options in shipping are typically free. Having as many options as possible is good.”
At that time, he also confirmed the continuing delays to the final three tankers did not reflect a change in the company's market outlook.
Hunter is new to the VLCC market this year having taken over an order Fredly agreed with the South Korean shipbuilder in 2017.
The initial move was for four firm and three optional ships. This was later extended when the initial options were taken as the extra three slots were added.
