Tor Olav Trøim-backed tanker newcomer Bruton has moved to expand its VLCC orderbook， contracting four newbuildings at China’s Yantai CIMC Raffles.

The Oslo-listed company said each vessel will be built for delivery into a Bruton subsidiary， with handovers scheduled between January and July 2028.

The ships will follow the MARIC 319，000 dwt design and come fitted with open-loop scrubbers， keeping them in line with current emissions compliance strategies in the crude segment.

Pricing for the quartet comes in at $124.75m per vessel， putting the total deal just shy of $500m.

The latest order adds to an already sizeable pipeline. Before the CIMC Raffles deal， Bruton had eight VLCCs on order at New Times Shipyard， along with options for two more at the same yard.