GasLog Partners has concluded a $120m sale-and-leaseback deal with China Development Bank Leasing (CDBL) on one of its eight-year-old LNG carriers.
US-listed GasLog said the agreement on the 155,000-cbm, tri-fuel diesel-electric vessel GasLog Shanghai (built 2013) with a wholly owned subsidiary of CDBL will release around $20m of incremental net liquidity to the company.
GasLog Partners will bareboat charter-in the vessel for five years, ending in October 2026.
The company has no obligation to purchase the vessel at the end of the lease, GasLog Partners said.
The LNG carrier is currently on charter to trader Gunvor Group's subsidiary Clearlake Shipping until November 2022.
Chief executive Paolo Enoizi, who stepped into the top job at GasLog Partners in August, said: "With the completion of the sale and leaseback of the GasLog Shanghai, the partnership will not only have additional capacity to further reduce its cost base but will also maintain operational and commercial control of the vessel for the next five years."
"We expect this period to be robust for LNG and LNG shipping demand as the world transitions to more environmentally friendly fuel sources."
GasLog Partners controls a fleet of 15 LNG carriers, one-third of which are steam turbine vessels.
In its last results briefing in July, the company spoke about being open to the sale of its steam turbine vessels but said it intends to pursue fleet renewal through consolidation rather than newbuildings.
