Bermuda-based B&H Ocean Carriers Ltd. said it planned to raise as much as $132 million in a share sale to finance the purchase of as many as nine second-hand ships.

B&H Ocean will sell five million shares priced at between $20 and $22 each, the company said this week in a regulatory filing. If the private placement is oversubscribed, the company may sell a further one million shares. B&H Ocean, listed on the American Stock Exchange, raised $60 million selling 3.24 million shares last month.

B&H Ocean, which operates a fleet of 14 ships, will use the money it raises to buy as many as eight so-called combination carriers, the filing said. Combination carriers are built to carry either oil or iron ore. The company also plans to buy one oil-product tanker.

Shipowners may raise $5 billion this year from share sales, a sevenfold increase from 2004, according to Athens-based consulting company Petrofin SA, after freight rates surged to records last year, boosting earnings.

B&H Ocean's shares were trading at $19.25 at mid-day yesterday.