A 20-year-old steam turbine-driven LNG carrier owned by South Korean shipowner Sinokor Merchant Marine is being offered for sale in a secondhand market that has become more subdued for this sector in the second half of 2023.
Brokers said the 138,000-cbm Singapore Energy (ex-British Innovator, built 2003) is being widely quoted as available for sale.
One described the vessel as being “pushed like it was the hottest thing on the planet”.
Another put a price on the vessel as around or upwards from the $35m mark, depending on business opportunities for the ship.
Sinokor, which traditionally has not commented on its commercial business, bought the then-British Innovator in early 2018 as the ship and a sister vessel neared the end of their long-term charters to energy major BP.
At the time, the company was said to have paid in the low to mid-$40m for the LNG carrier in a deal under which it also separately bought the 138,000-cbm British Merchant (built 2002) at a similar price. However, the British Merchant sale did not go through until a year later.
The ships — which were among the first LNG carrier export newbuildings for Samsung Heavy Industries and underwent a series of repairs associated with their Mark III membrane cargo-containment systems — marked a move to younger secondhand tonnage for Sinokor.
The Singapore Energy was traded by Sinokor but has also been quoted as an “on-off sales candidate” for the shipowner over the past few years.
Brokers commented that the level of activity around secondhand LNG carrier sales has dropped in the latter months of 2023.
Surge in transactions
A busy 2022 saw 22 LNG carriers recorded as sold and at least nine vessels changed hands in the first half of 2023.
Sinokor has been a recent buyer, paying about $68m for TotalEnergies and NYK Line’s 154,472-cbm LNG Alliance (ex-Gaselys, built 2007) mid-year with a charterback to the French energy major for about 15 months.
One broker explained that some project work where some of these older ships might be deployed as storage units or floating storage and regasification units has slowed.
But he added that there is also a “wariness” in the market and that the slowdown in action is largely sentiment-driven.
In 2024, Sinokor is set to move into a new LNG carrier era with the anticipated delivery of the first of four 174,000-cbm two-stroke newbuildings — the Pacific Success — from Samsung Heavy Industries at the end of the first quarter.
These ships were originally contracted in February 2019 at a reported price of $193m each. The first vessel was originally due for delivery in 2021.
Newbuilding employment
Sinokor initially paid the deposit on the first ship but in the past 18 months, brokers said this initial newbuilding was also circulated for sale in 2022 at a strong price of $270m.
Those who follow Sinokor now report that the shipowner is keen to take delivery of the vessel and is working to find employment for it.
Sinokor is also understood to have paid the first deposits on the other three LNG newbuildings that are listed as scheduled for handover dates in 2024, although brokers have suggested the second will not emerge until at least 2025.
The shipowner is now believed to control at least seven existing LNG carriers in Sinokor’s fleet, three of which are listed on databases as laid up.
