Norway’s Himalaya Shipping has revealed charter details for its latest newcastlemax newbuilding, but the vessel is not likely to realise its full decarbonisation potential any time soon.
The Tor Olav Troim-backed shipowner said the 210,000-dwt US-flag Mount Matterhorn has arrived from New Times Shipyard in China.
The Oslo-listed company said the dual-fuel vessel has begun a time charter of between 32 and 38 months, with an option for another 11 to 13 months.
Brokers said the charterer is Koch Logistics in the US.
The ship will earn an index-linked rate, reflecting a “significant premium” to a standard capesize vessel, the company added.
The charter also includes a profit sharing of any economic benefit derived from operating the vessel’s scrubber, or running on LNG, as well as certain rights to convert the deal to a fixed rate based on the prevailing forward freight agreement (FFA) curve from time to time.
Himalaya chief executive Herman Billung said the design can cut CO2 emissions by up to 43% compared to a conventional capesize.
But the charterer will decide if the new ship runs on LNG.
The company said in April that this was unlikely due to cost, even though the price spread between gas and fuel oil was narrowing.
Ahead of schedule
“We are excited to take delivery of the fifth vessel, which is chartered to a leading commodity trading house. The shipyard has again delivered a high-quality vessel slightly ahead of schedule,” Billung said.
“Mount Matterhorn will add another state-of-the-art vessel to the youngest dry bulk fleet on the water today. The Himalaya ships…are prepared to meet and benefit from more environmental regulations coming into force,” he added.
Billung said in April he did not see LNG as an “imminent” fuel source.
“The spread is much narrower than it used to be. It’s a little bit complicated because it depends where you source it from — the LNG — and also, when you do the maths, the calorific value of LNG is much higher than regular fuel,” he told TradeWinds.
Himalaya has another seven newbuildings still to come in the series.
