Malaysian state energy giant Petronas is being named as the likely charterer of an upcoming LNG bunker vessel newbuilding contracted by Italy’s Fratelli Cosulich, as a shortage of the units looms.
Sector sources told TradeWinds that Petronas had identified Cosulich’s upcoming 8,200-cbm newbuilding Paolina Cosulich as its preferred choice after a selection process.
But they said a time charter on the vessel, which has been under discussion for several months, has yet to be finalised. Brokers said they would expect a contract of between three and five years.
The specialised newbuilding is due for delivery from CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering in China in the first quarter of 2024. It has been built with a €4m ($3.3m) grant from the European Union under the Connecting Europe Facility programme.
A spokesman for Cosulich told TradeWinds last month that no charter agreement had been signed on the newbuilding. Petronas did not respond to questions about the vessel.
Fratelli Cosulich made a bold jump into LNG bunkering in May 2021, contracting a single vessel at the Chinese shipyard before swiftly declaring an option on a second unit — both on speculation.
The ships can lift 8,200 cbm of LNG and 500 cbm of marine gas oil and were priced at about $50m each.
In June, the Italian owner locked away its first LNGBV newbuilding, the Alice Cosulich, to Dutch bunker supplier Titan for seven years.
The vessel is operating in Europe where Titan has said it will supply LNG, bio-LNG and, in the future, small parcels of bio-diesel.
Petronas, which is pushing to expand into international markets, has been growing its bunkering activities, with several key LNG operations performed in the area off the coast of Pasir Gudang and Pengerang.
Two years ago, the company went out to the market in search of LNGBV tonnage.
LNG infrastructure and bunker brokers are becoming increasingly vociferous about what they see as a looming shortfall of LNGBVs.
Numerous players have said this is likely to come to a head in 2026 as LNG dual-fuelled newbuildings emerge onto the market.
Energy major TotalEnergies and several consultants have raised concerns that the market is short on LNGBVs, based on the number and capacity of the LNG dual-fuelled newbuildings already contracted.
TotalEnergies has said that on top of the existing fleet, some 35 large LNGBVs of between 12,000 cbm and 18,000 cbm will be needed.
