Azernews said the 80-pax vessels are set for delivery in the first half of 2016 from Baku Shipyard, in which Caspar has a stake.

They are costing more than $10.8m each.

Vugar Sadigov, assistant to the director of Caspar, said the company has scrapped 20 older vessels and is continuing to renew its fleet.

"In particular, work has begun on the construction of three new passenger ships in the Baku Shipyard.