Mumbai: The Shipping Corporation of India has revealed that it is to order four cargo vessels from Korea's STX Shipbuilding company, the first step in a major project to increase the company's owned fleet by 68 vessels by 2012.
SCI, which has allocated a $3.5bn budget for fleet increases, has already ordered 28 ships for $1.6bn and plans to order 40 more vessels by 2012.
The four Kamsarmax-type dry bulk cargo carriers from STX are worth a combined $239.8m and will be able to handle 82,000 tonnes of cargo each. The agreement is subject to approval by the SCI board of directors and clearance from the Union cabinet committee on economic affairs.
Although the company is yet to be affected by the so-called global slowdown, SCI maintains that rising fuel prices have impacted profits from its liner sector.
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