Japan’s Iino Lines has ordered another innovative VLGC for charter to Austria’s Borealis.
The shipowner said the 93,000-cbm gas carrier will be the first such vessel of ice-class 1B designation.
The unspecified “long-term” time charter improves the cost competitiveness of transatlantic feedstock shipments, Iino added.
This is the second VLGC it has chartered to Borealis, one of the world’s leading producers of polyolefins.
Delivery will be in the first quarter of 2027.
Shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean in South Korea announced a new VLGC order for KRW 317.2bn ($127m) in April, but the owner was not known.
The carrier will transport raw materials to Borealis’ petrochemical plant in Porvoo, Finland, and be capable of navigating in light ice conditions with the support of ice breakers, adhering to Finnish-Swedish ice-class rules.
It will also have a dual-fuel LPG engine.
Ryuichi Osonoe, Iino’s senior managing executive officer for gas carriers, said the company is “profoundly proud of this second long-term charter to provide safe and flexible transportation in response to Borealis’ new strategy of raw material procurement”.
Extensive expertise
“Our various experience and know-how in operating LPG carriers since 1960 will not only enable more effective and environmentally sustainable transportation, but also stable plant operation regardless of season,” he added.
The last time Iino ordered a VLGC newbuilding at the Okpo-based shipyard was in 2021, when it was known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
The yard delivered the 91,200-cbm Oceanus Aurora in March 2023, and it is time-chartered out to Borealis for three years.
Iino is due to take delivery of two very large ethane carriers from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in October 2025 and January 2026.
