China COSCO Holdings inked deals with two Chinese shipyards to take over four 64,000 deadweight ton bulk vessels and five 308,000 dwt very large crude carriers (VLCC) in a bid to advance its vast fleet.

In five years, this is China COSCO’s first purchase of new vessels.

On 30th December, bulk vessel contract was inked with CSSC Huangpu Wenchong Shipbuilding Co, a subsidiary of china State Shipbuilding Corp. The price for each ship was 654 million yuan ($108 million), declared by the company.

Simultaneously, China COSCO laid another order for a VLCC with Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co, a major shipyard of China Shipbuilding Industry Corp, since it placed orders for another four VLCCs previous week.

Moreover, the main broker for these orders was China’s new subsidy policy to promote the nation’s shipping companies in diminishing number of aging vessels and substitute them with technically boosted vessels.