In a statement the New York-listed tanker owner was quick to point out that the $92.7m price tag includes “certain additions and upgrades to the standard specifications”.

The operator also noted the terms tied to the transaction are in line with the ones attached to the initial VLCC orders it placed at the same shipyard just last month.

If all goes according to plan, DHT, which recently lined up funding for the expansion campaign, says the vessels are due for delivery in April, July and September of 2016.

Today’s development did not come as a surprise to Wall Street analysts like Jonathan Chappell of Evercore Partners, which expected to see the option exercised by the end of 2013.

When DHT inked the first pair of VLCCs a few weeks back, Clarksons believed the standard cost of a newbuilding to be approximately $93.5m.