A deadline for firming up 17 LNG carrier newbuilding berths for the TotalEnergies-led Mozambique LNG project has been pushed back to the end of 2022 amid increasing pressure from independent shipowners for newbuilding berths.
Shipbuilding sources said the delivery dates on the berths, which are split between two yards — nine slots at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and eight at Samsung Heavy Industries — are now firmly into 2025, with six vessels at each yard now scheduled for handover that year.
Three Hyundai Samho ships and two SHI vessels are now pencilled in for 2026 delivery slots.
The 17 newbuildings were originally confirmed at the two yards in late 2020. Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines signed up to five vessels and K Line four at Hyundai Samho, while compatriot NYK Line and Greece's Maran Gas Maritime reserved four berths each at SHI.
But the deals were effectively on hold until the end of May 2021 and dependent on the decision of project shareholders.
In the interim, TotalEnergies on 26 April declared force majeure on the 12.88-million-tonne-per-annum east African project after a deterioration in security in Mozambique close to the project's Afungi construction site in the north of the country.
A decision on the newbuildings has since been pushed back twice — the first time until the end of September 2021 and more recently until March 2022.
But shipyards are both battling to keep reserved berth slots open for QatarEnergy's huge newbuilding project and facing a barrage of enquiry from independent owners. Observers suggested this may have been a factor in the latest rescheduling.
