Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) has secured additional shipbuilding contracts for 15 vessels worth a total of US$414 million (S$524 million).

They are made up of six 82,000 deadweight ton (DWT) bulk carriers, eight 64,000 DWT bulk carriers and one 94,000 DWT transload vessel.

These vessels are scheduled for deliveries from 2015 to 2016.

So far in the first six months, the group had secured a total of 27 shipbuilding contracts totalling US$1.01 billion.

Yangzijiang also has a total of 51 options worth US$2.64 billion entered with its respective buyers, of which 22 options are for containerships worth US$1.56 billion and 29 options are for multi-purpose bulk carriers worth US$1.08 billion.

With the Baltic Dry Index recently achieving a 52-week high of 1,179 points, the group is confident that more options will be exercised in the second half year.