German owner Carsten Rehder Schiffsmakler und Reederei has expanded its methanol-ready multipurpose newbuilding programme in India, contracting four firm units with options for two more at Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE).

The deal will see the Hamburg-based company pay $62.4m to the Kolkata yard, with deliveries of the firm ships set between June 2028 and March 2029.

The 120-m vessels, each able to carry 7,500 tonnes of bulk, project, or general cargo, will feature hybrid propulsion and container-carrying capability on deck. They are also designed to transport oversized renewable energy components such as wind turbine blades.

The order builds on a fast-expanding partnership between Carsten Rehder and GRSE. Since mid-2024, the German owner has contracted a series of similar MPPs at the Indian yard, with steel cutting for the first ships in the Coral 7500 series beginning earlier this year.

The latest deal, which follows a memorandum of intent signed during the Nor-Shipping event in Oslo earlier this year, takes Carsten Rehder’s orderbook at GRSE to at least a dozen vessels.

In related news, brokers report a UK owner has signed for up to four 12,600 dwt MPPs at China’s Rizhao Kingda Shipbuilding for delivery in 2027.