Briese Schiffahrt of Germany has tripled its tally of multipurpose (MPP) vessels on order at China's Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering to six.

Shipbuilding sources said the Leer-based owner added four more 12,500-dwt newbuildings some time ago but the deal went unreported.

A source familiar with the deal said Briese is scheduled to take delivery of the quartet in 2020.