Mar. 7, 2007 (China Knowledge) – China Shipping Development Co. Ltd. <600026> <1138> announced Monday plans to pay US$307.56 million to China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co. Ltd. for six oil tankers which will be delivered between 2009 and 2010.

Each tanker will have a capacity of 76,000 tons, said China Shipping in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange. An agreement has been signed between the two companies, but China Shipping’s shareholders still need to approve the deal.

China Shipping would pay in five installments, with 20% of the cost coming from its own capital and 80% from bank loans. The firm added that the new tankers would not have a major impact on its cash flow.

By the end of 2006, the company owns 69 oil tankers, which have a combined capacity of 3.4 million tons. Some of these existing oil tankers will be used for domestic transport, and fleet expansion is necessary to maintain China Shipping’s market share on the international oil transport market.