John Fredriksen-controlled Flex LNG has secured multi-year time-charter business for another in its 13-strong LNG carrier fleet.
The company has fixed its 173,400-cbm Flex Constellation (built 2019) for a minimum of three years on a prompt basis to a leading trading house, without naming the charterer.
Flex said that under the deal the charterer has the option to extend the hire by an additional three years.
Brokers said the ME-GI vessel Flex Constellation has been fixed to Trafigura. They said the vessel was delivered to its charterer on 6 May.
Brokers' market reports assess rates on three-year charters of two-stroke, gas-injection tonnage at about $80,000 per day.
Flex chief executive Oystein Kalleklev described the deal as "another attractive time charter with a leading LNG player".
Kalleklev said: "This is very much in line with our communicated strategy of securing attractive term charters to improve our earnings visibility. With the improved freight market for LNG, we think the timing now is right to execute on this strategy."
In April, Flex made a major shift into period business, chartering four of its 13 vessels to Cheniere Energy for periods of three to three-and-a-half years, with an option for the US LNG producer to take a fifth ship on hire.
At the time, Kalleklev said the term market had not proved attractive in 2019 and 2020, so the company had held off fixing vessels on period hire.
But this year, owners have seen a counter-seasonal uptick in period business for LNG carriers on the back of demand recovery, stronger Asian prices and charterers' desire to lock in winter cover to avoid being caught without tonnage.
