The contract between the state and the company required the company to commission four ships of a certain minimum size. An annex contained a description of these ships based on negotiations with shipbuilder John Elder. The ships were described as being 2,400 tons Builders Measure, or 2,000 Register tons. They would have to be about 320 feet long between perpendiculars. Beam was to be about 39 feet, and hold till the spar deck 29 feet. The preferred type would be spar deck or flush deck, and the ships would answer to the requirements of several lloyd's. Cargo space should be about 120,000 cubic feet and about 640 tons of coal would have to be loaded. With 2,300 tons of cargo, 700 tons of coal, and about 100 tons of provisions, draught should be 22.5 feet.