Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis, a serial shipyard customer with nearly 30 newbuilding orders under his belt over the past decade at Hyundai entities, is coming back for more.
London brokers identified Latsco Shipping — the Greek owner’s company — as the “Central American” player that placed an order for two LPG carriers at Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering (KSOE), according to a stock exchange filing by the Seoul-based shipyard on 9 December.
KSOE announced that the 88,000-cbm pair will be built at its Ulsan yard for KRW 258.1bn ($197.7m) in total. The Clarksons databank elaborates that the LPG-fuelled newbuildings will be delivered in August and November of 2025.
Clarksons added that Latsco secured options to build an additional pair of sisterships as well, due for delivery in May and August 2026. If it exercises these options, it will have to pay about $1m extra for each ship.
Latsco managers did not respond to a request for comment. However, the company has been an avowed fan of Hyundai yards. KSOE was founded in 2019 as a holding company split from Hyundai Heavy Industries to try to acquire Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
The panamax-beam vessels that Latsco booked last week are its first VLGC newbuilding orders in four years. TradeWinds understands they are being ordered on the back of secured employment.
Lucrative LR2, LPG carrier sales
The deal comes after Latsco’s moves to shake off the oldest LPG vessels in its fleet.
As TradeWinds already reported, Kassidokostas-Latsis raised about $145m from the disposal of three 2008-built VLGC sisterships over the past 14 months, benefiting from rising asset values in robust LPG markets.
In October 2021, the 80,700-cbm Hellas Fos (renamed Gas Camelot) went to Indonesia’s Sillo Maritime for $48.5m.
In April 2022, the 80,800-cbm Hellas Serenity (renamed Gas Felicity) followed, in a $47.5m deal with clients of another Indonesian company — Arcadia Shipping & Trading.
Finally, in October, newly emerging Iraqi buyer GCC Energy is said to have paid about $49.5m for the 80,700-cbm Hellas Glory (renamed Pinar Gas).
The three sales whittled Latsco’s gas carrier fleet down to eight vessels. At the same time, they left it much younger, with the oldest such ship on the water having been built in 2015.
Kassidokostas-Latsis seems to have been in disposal mode on the tanker side as well.
His separate company — Marla Tankers — sold the 105,200-dwt LR2 Fos Athens (built 2015) for $50m to undisclosed Turkish buyers, according to brokers based in the US and London.
This would be the second such sale since a $43.75m deal last month to dispose of the 105,400-dwt Fos Hamilton (renamed P Long Beach, built 2013) to Performance Shipping — a Greek peer listed in New York.
If confirmed, the sale of the Fos Athens would mark the completion of a remarkable asset play that began with the purchase of the vessels from Turkey’s Marinsa Denizcilik three years ago, for just about $30m each.
