China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) has set its sights on raising CNY 4.1bn ($610m) to fund scrubber installations, fleet expansion and debt repayments.

The Shanghai-listed company said it may issue up to 1.2 billion shares via a private placement.

Parent China Merchants Group has committed to buy up to 592 million shares for no more than CNY 2bn. Shares of CMES have been traded above CNY 4 this month.