OREANDA-NEWS. December 15, 2014. HNA group company Tianjin Marine has won Chinese regulatory approval for a share issue to fund its big VLCC and LNG carrier order spree.

It told the Shanghai Stock Exchange that the China Securities Regulatory Commission has okayed a non-public sale of up to 3.44m shares.

This will raise cash for its proposed fleet expansion that will see it contract 10 VLCCs and four LNG carriers.

The first four VLCCs are expected to cost up to USD400m, it said.

TradeWinds reported in June that the boxship operator had kick-started its quest for a VLCC fleet by signing a letter of intent (LOI) for two 320,000-dwt tanker newbuildings at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corp (DSIC) for delivery at the end of 2016 and in early 2017.

In April, it had signed an LOI at DSIC for four LNG ships with a capacity of between 160,000 cbm and 175,000 cbm.

The vessels will cost between USD 200m and USD 230m each.