Japanese trader JERA has taken a second LNG carrier newbuilding contracted by John Angelicoussis' Maran Gas Maritime on long-term time charter.
JERA said its subsidiary LNG Marine Transport will take the 174,000-cbm Maran Gas newbuilding on charter for 12 years starting between October and December 2021.
The trader said the ship, construction of which will start at DSME next year, will be used mainly for transporting LNG from projects in "Asia and Oceania."
This is the second Maran Gas newbuilding that JERA has taken on.
In April JERA announced that it had chartered in a 173,400-cbm Maran Gas newbuilding from late 2019 - recently named as the Maran Gas Andros - for 12 years, along with a new GasLog vessel which delivers in early 2020.
These were the first time-charters the trader had concluded with foreign shipowners.
JERA has said it plans to increase its LNG fleet to 25 vessels by 2025 as its ratio of free-on-board contracts grows.
The addition of the Maran Gas vessel increases the trader's fleet to 19 LNG carriers, two of which are under construction.
"Going forward, JERA will continue to actively develop and optimise its fuel transportation businesses to achieve a stable, competitive, and flexible fuel portfolio," the company said in its statement today.
Speaking to TradeWinds in June, JERA executive officer and head of the LNG transactions group in business development department Yuichiro Kato, who is responsible for LNG shipping, outlined how the trader is moving to a more flexible shipping strategy as it expands globally.
The company opened an office in London this year and started trading LNG out of Singapore.
Kato said JERA no longer assigns vessels to specific projects after finalising its LNG optimisation operations in April as part of its new business plan to 2025.
Maran Gas operates a fleet of 32 LNG carriers, with an additional 11 newbuildings and one floating storage and regasification units on order.
In addition to the new time-charter JERA has hooked up with PetroChina International Co signing a memorandum on cooperation in the LNG business
The two companies said they will discuss opportunities in the LNG value chain, including shipping optimisation and LNG bunkering.
