Tianjin Tianhai Investment Co, formerly Tianjin Marine Shipping, will float a public tender for the construction of four VLCCs for no more than $400m, it announced to ths stock exchange.

Shanghai-listed Tianjin Tianhai said an option for four more VLCCs may be added, on top of the planned four firm orders.

The company said it has completed the preparation for the tender, and commissioned China National Technical Import & Export Corporation to carry out the tender process.

Tianjin Tianhai is principally engaged in marine transportation services, and operates its businesses through international and domestic shipping transportation and related business.

In the first half of 2015, Tianjin Tianhai reported a net profit of RMB95.31m ($14.93m), a surge from the gain of RMB6.79m in the same period of last year.

First half revenue, however, dropped by 13.4% year-on-year to RMB176.1m.