US-listed New Fortress Energy has moved in on an uncommitted LNG carrier newbuilding controlled by Greek shipowner Alpha Gas, booking the vessel on a long-term charter.

Brokers said New Fortress has fixed one of two Alpha Gas’ 2024-delivering LNG carriers that the Greek owner has on order at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries.

They detailed that the as-yet-unnamed, 174,000-cbm ship, which is being fitted with an X-DF propulsion system, is scheduled for handover in April and has been fixed for 10 years at a rate of around $105,000 per day.

Brokers are currently quoting three-year rates for two-stroke LNG carriers at more than $160,000 per day.

One said New Fortress needs tonnage to lift cargoes long-haul from its planned floating LNG production units, the first of which is due to be put into operation by mid-2023.

Neither New Fortress or Alpha Gas traditionally comment on their commercial business.

Industry players are watching the pool of open LNG newbuildings dwindle.

Fearnley LNG said this week: “… As we work our way towards Q2 [the second quarter] and vessels continue to get picked off, we expect the seasonal firming on term rates to take hold and liquidity to slowly bubble away.”

In a first new quarterly LNG report, Howe Robinson said there are likely less than 25 available LNG newbuildings scheduled for delivery in the period to the end of 2026, with ongoing tenders expected to slim this number by at least six vessels.

Alpha Gas, which is part of Anna Angelicoussis’ shipping interests, has three LNG carriers on order including one of only two open LNG carrier newbuildings listed for delivery in 2023.

The ships were originally contracted in January and July 2021 by Russian shipowner Sovcomflot at just over $182m per vessel. At the time, all three were chartered to French energy major TotalEnergies.

In July 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of Western sanctions against Russian interests, Alpha Gas emerged as the buyer of the three under-construction LNG carrier newbuildings.

At the time, a price of between $240m and $245m per vessel was rumoured.

TotalEnergies cancelled its original charters on the LNG trio, leaving Alpha Gas with three open newbuildings that have early delivery positions in what has been — and continues to be — a strong term market.

Alpha Gas currently owns eight LNG carriers, including the three on-order vessels.

Two of the ships — the Energy Integrity and Energy Intelligence — were chartered out from their deliveries to Russia’s Gazprom Marketing & Trading, which is now under the control of Berlin-based SEFE Securing Energy for Europe, formerly Gazprom Germania.