Chairman of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping (IRISL) Mohammad Saeedi said that four of the vessels will be container ships with a capacity of over 14,500 TEU (Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units).
"When the new ships are added, the company's standing among world's largest shipping lines will improve to 16th or 17th from the current 20th," he said, according to the Financial Tribune.
The IRISL's fleet currently includes 150 commercial vessels carrying 5.2 million tons of goods annually.
In December 2016, IRISL signed a shipbuilding deal worth 650 million US dollars with the HHI, the largest ship manufacturer in the world.
Under the deal, the HHI will build 14,500 TEU container ships and 49,000 DWT (tons deadweight) tankers with the funds provided by South Korean banks and financial institutions.
The deal was part of a 2.5-billion-dollar plan adopted by Iran to modernize the country's maritime commercial fleets.