German shipping company Marlink Schiffahrtskontor has placed an order for six Feedermax vessels with an option for another six ships at China's shipyard Fujian Mawei Shipbuilding, show data provided by VesselsValue.

Five containerships from the batch, with a capacity of 1,162 TEU, are scheduled for delivery in 2018, while the remaining one would join its owner in 2019.

VesselsValue added that the company would pay a total of US$114m for the six vessels, with each ship costing US$19m.

The vessels on option, if exercised, could all be added to the fleet during 2019, and would bring the total value of the deal to up to US$230m.