Jeppe Jensen-led Celsius Tankers has fixed its remaining three speculatively-ordered LNG carriers on long-term contracts with US producer Cheniere Marketing.
Celsius said the 180,000-cbm ships will deliver to Cheniere on to charters of up to 13.5 years.
All three vessels are being built at Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea and are scheduled for handover dates in 2021.
Celsius, which ordered the X-DF ships as part of a contract to build four ultra-eco design vessels in 2018, said the charters are part of Cheniere’s efforts to reduce emissions.
“The vessel specification includes air lubrication, re-liquefaction, increased filling ratio and several other advanced features which will increase the vessels’ efficiency and lower emissions to the benefit of their charterers,” the company said.
Emissions reductions
Celsius chairman Jensen said: “We are very pleased with these three charters to Cheniere and look forward to a long-lasting relationship with one of the world’s largest exporters of LNG.
“Celsius Tankers is committed to implement the absolute latest technology to improve safety, reduce emissions per transported unit and improvement of crew welfare on board our vessels.”
In November, parent Cheniere Energy said it will be looking closely at its shipping operations as it moves to lower its carbon footprint.
President and chief executive Jack Fusco said the US company is analysing its life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain and evaluating the areas where it has direct and indirect control of these.
Fusco said Cheniere will be looking upstream and downstream and collaborating with its partners to pursue actionable solutions to reduce the environmental footprint of its operations.
He named LNG shipping as one of five areas in which the company is actively pursuing opportunities.
Speaking about the Celsius charters, Cheniere’s executive vice president for worldwide trading Corey Grindal said: “Cheniere’s use of these ultra-eco LNG carriers will help our overall efforts to reduce emissions in our operations and across the value chain.
“These state-of-the-art LNG vessels will be among some of the cleanest on the water in the world, demonstrating that reliability, safety, and sustainability can go hand-in-hand.”
The Cheniere charters effectively complete the tie up of Celsius’ entire four-ship LNG carrier fleet.
In August, the company announced it had tied up the 180,000-cbm newbuilding Celsius Copenhagen, the first of the ships scheduled to be delivered.
Brokers listed the vessel, which has since been delivered, as fixed to Gunvor’s Clearlake Shipping for a period of between 12 and 14 months for about $60,000 per day.
