(Bloomberg) ? Bermuda-based Frontline Ltd., the world?s biggest oil-tanker owner by capacity, agreed to pay $158.5 million to take over two contracts for new very large crude carriers to be delivered in 2006.

Frontline will initially pay only ten percent of the price in cash, it said in a statement through Hugin. Frontline said it will before delivery consider various options to sell them to a third party and charter them back, most likely with former unit Ship Finance International Ltd. ?The Combination of the price, the payment terms and the delivery position makes this a very attractive investment for Frontline,? Oscar Spieler, chief executive of Frontline Management AS, said in the statement.

Frontline last month bought two VLCCs, which can carry about 2 million barrels of crude oil, from PT Pertamina for $184 million. Those ships are scheduled for delivery this month and in September. Oil-tanker rates for shipping crude from the Middle East to Asia yesterday rose to the highest in more than four months.