LONDON (Bloomberg) - Frontline Ltd., the oil-tanker company whose chairman is Norwegian billionaire John Fredriksen, bought five, one-million barrel crude carriers for $240 million in total to become the world's largest owner of such vessels.

The shipping line purchased the so-called suezmax tankers, designed to sail fully loaded through Egypt's Suez Canal, from Top Ships Inc., Hamilton, Bermuda-based Frontline said in a statement distributed by Hugin yesterday. It also hired another five carriers from Eigir Shipping, paying fixed daily rental rates.

"We have for several months looked to increase Frontline's exposure to the strong tanker market," Mr. Fredriksen said in the statement. The transactions were "opportunistic" and will help to consolidate suezmax operators, the statement said.

Owners who run big fleets strengthen their negotiating positions, often get to hear of available cargoes before rivals and can normally deploy vessels more efficiently. They also gather more intelligence about oil-market trends.

The purchase and rentals will increase the size of Frontline's fleet of one million-barrel tankers to 19 vessels and enable the company to tap greater oil supply. Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, plans to raise output next month and pledged further increases if need be to curb record prices.

The tankers Frontline bought, constructed between 1992 and 1996, have double hulls to cut the risk of an oil spill in the event of a collision or running aground.

Typical 15-year-old, double-hull suezmaxes cost between $58 million and $60 million, according to data from London-based shipbroker Galbraith's Ltd., which would give a total price of as much as $300 million for such a deal.

Mark Jenkins, an analyst at Simpson, Spence & Young Ltd., the world's largest private shipbroker, said the vessels currently cost about $56 million.

"It's an attractive price," Inger Klemp, chief financial officer of Frontline's management unit, said by phone from Oslo. "It's just the result of a negotiation."

Top Ships, based in Athens, "sold at the top of the market" Evangelos Pistiolis, CEO, of Athens- based Top Ships, said by phone from London.

Three of the carriers are due to enter dry dock for routine maintenance within the next year, which devalues the transaction for Frontline by between $20 million and $30 million, he said.

Two of the ships sold are smaller than normal suezmaxes, meaning they're less valuable, he said. Three are on so-called time-charters, earning fixed daily income, meaning Frontline would not immediately be able to lease them out in the more- profitable single-voyage, or spot market, he said.

The carriers are Ellen P, Stormless, Edgeless, Limitless and Endless, he said. Top Ships will make its own statement once Frontline has paid a 10 percent deposit, he said.