The shipowning division of Swire Group has penned a deal for a quartet of handysize vessels at Zhejiang Ouhua Shipbuilding.

The contract for Deltamarin’s B Delta37 design means CNCo has a total of 20 of the 39,000-dwt vessels on order, including 16 at Chengxi Shipyard where it added four more just last week.

No price was placed on the order but TradeWinds has previously reported a figure of around $23m apiece for the ships at Chengxi Shipyard.

All 20 will be deployed in CNCo’s drybulk division Swire Bulk and will operate on a worldwide basis, a statement said.

The latest order follows the successful completion of sea trials for the first in the series of B Delta37 vessels, the Wuchang which it will be taking delivery at end of October.

This is not the first time CNCo has turned to Zhoushan-based Zhejiang Ouhua with a ship order.

It has taken delivery of four of eight 31,000-dwt multipurpose vessels with the remaining units expected to be handed over by the end of next year.

The same yard is also due to deliver four larger 22,000-dwt multipurpose vessels to CNCo in 2015.