India's state-run Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will start ordering new ships, Ending a two-year acquisition freeze following a dismal financial performance in the last four years, according to the company.

The company said it plans to spend about US$130m buying ships, either second-hand or new. "We are looking for second-hand LPG vessels, which we would like to induct in our fleet by December 2015," said a spokesman for the Mumbai-based company. "We will also order some offshore vessels, each costing some US$22m with Cochin Shipyard this year."

India's biggest deepsea carrier is now a quarter away from posting a full-year profit, the first in four years. SCI had reported overall losses in fiscal years 2012, 2013, and 2014. Indian companies follow an April-to-March financial year.

The rebound in SCI's performance started in the last quarter of the previous financial year ending in March 2014. The firm has posted profits for the first three quarters of the current financial year and is on track to repeat that run in the final quarter.

As well as freezing acquisitions since April 2013, SCI also cancelled earlier orders for 12 newbuilds.

There is also a regulatory reason for SCI to restart acquisitions. "Shipping Corp needs to re-deploy about US$50m of refund money received from shipyards on order cancellations that was originally part of the proceeds of the follow-on public offer in November 2010," the spokesman explained. "This money can only be used for buying ships because that was the one of the purposes of the follow-on public offer."