Finland's Lundqvist Rederierna has ordered an LNG-fuelled aframax without any physical meetings between the shipowner and yard during the pandemic.
The company said the 112,000-dwt ship will be delivered from Japan's Sumitomo Heavy Industries in January 2022.
The vessel is being seen as a sister to the 109,000-dwt Alfa Finlandia, delivered from Sumitomo last year.
But the earlier newbuilding was not LNG-enabled.
Some other adjustments are being made to reduce bunker consumption, the company said.
Financing for the scrubber-fitted ship is likely to come from its own funds.
Lundqvist said it was unusual that no meetings had taken place during the preparation of the contract.
"This has been possible thanks to the confidential relations created between the parties during the construction of the seven aframax tankers delivered during the last five years," said chief executive Ben Lundqvist.
As TradeWinds reported earlier, brokers said the order was being lined up for $50m in January.
Data from VesselsValue shows the company's fleet is worth nearly $445m, with the two newbuildings included.
An aframax specialist, Lundqvist has a fleet of 10 tankers with an average age of seven years. All but two were built at Sumitomo.
The company tends to keep its ships until they are 20 years old.
Last year, it sold its oldest vessel, the 99,000-dwt Hildegard (built 1999), for $8.7m to Dubai-based Marshal Shipping.
The two oldest tankers in the current fleet are the 105,000-dwt Alfa Italia and Sarpen (both built 2002).
Sumitomo is also a specialist in aframaxes, with eight on its orderbook, according to Clarksons.
