Belgian shipowner Exmar has opened a new French company for its LPG-ammonia dual-fuel midsize gas carrier newbuildings.
In a results statement, the company said Exmar LPG France will own and operate the six newbuildings, which are on order at HD Hyundai Mipo in South Korea.
The first two 46,000-cbm dual-fuel vessels are due for delivery in 2025. One of them is listed on databases with the name Champagny.
The next four, which will emerge as among the world’s first ammonia dual-fuel ammonia carriers, are listed for handover dates in 2026.
The company said it also closed financing for the six newbuildings in October.
Exmar said it has sold five midsize gas carriers.
Of these, the 38,115-cbm Severin Schulte (ex-Warinsart, built 2014) has been delivered to its new owners and chartered back to Exmar.
The 5,019-cbm Sabrina, Helane, 3,518-cbm Debbie (all built 2009) and 3,451-cbm Magdalena (built 2008) are due for handovers during the current quarter and first three months of 2025.
Exmar more than doubled its third-quarter result, up at $81.9m from $39.5m in the same three months of 2023.
But revenue for the quarter slumped to $278.9m from $345.4m in the third quarter of last year.
Exmar said revenue for its shipping segment in the first nine months of 2024 was negatively impacted by a claim provision.
The company logged an $87.3m drop in the third quarter revenue for its infrastructure business due to the completion works for the Marine XII project in Congo.
It also won a new contract for the hull a floating production facility for BP’s Kaskida development in the US Gulf of Mexico.
Exmar said it continues to work on the development of various new floating LNG (FLNG) production, floating regasification prospects and floating storage projects.
The company said its Exmar Ship Management arm’s fleet has shrunk due to asset sales by the owner but is “actively looking” to expand its third-party management and support its own LPG arm with fleet renewal.
“Efforts to grow our footprint in third-party LNG infrastructure operations and maintenance (O&M) are ongoing, as Exmar Shipmanagement continues to benefit from the long-term commitments in FSRU and FLNG infrastructure assets,” it said.
During the fourth quarter Exmar said the existing revolving credit facility at Exmar LPG was upsized to $382m and extended until 2029.
