Japanese shipowner Mitsui OSK Lines has chartered out a second LNG carrier newbuilding to gas importer and government-controlled utility Gail (India).
MOL said did not reveal the charter period for the 174,000-cbm 2023-delivering newbuilding except to say it would start from next year.
The ship, which is fitted with an X-DF propulsion system, is under construction at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
According to Clarksons Shipping Intelligence Network, this vessel was ordered in April 2021 at what now appears to be a cheap price of $184.6m, compared to recent LNG newbuildings which were contracted at just over $250m each.
MOL also announced that it would be transferring “a portion” of the ownership in an existing LNG carrier, the 180,000-cbm Gail Bhuwan (built 2021), to Gail, without giving details of the size of the stake involved.
This vessel was chartered out to the Indian company from 2021 under a deal signed by the two parties in 2019.
MOL said that strengthening the partnership between the two companies will create synergies adding: “.. and this will lead us to extend our services even further against the demand that will grow in the future.”
The shipowner said regional strategies are one of the pillars of its 2022 management plan and that it takes “a proactive stance in its business expansion in Asia, especially in India, as a region with strong potential for growth”.
“It will strengthen its presence and business base in India, where energy demand is expected to increase,” the company said.
Gail boasts a global LNG portfolio of around 14 million tonnes per annum and is actively involved in the LNG trading business in the international market.
In November TradeWinds reported that Gail fixed NYK Line’s 174,000-cbm LNG newbuilding Grace Emilia for a period of five years at a rate in the low-to-mid-$70,000-per-day range.
MOL has slowly built up a cache of open LNG carrier newbuildings by adding to its order tally, adding its latest vessel at DSME in August.
This latest 174,000-cbm, ME-GA engine-fitted vessel is due for delivery in 2026.
The company has fixed out newbuilding tonnage to Japanese trader Mitsui & Co and a 2026-delivering vessel to TotalEnergies.
But MOL appears to have two remaining open LNG newbuildings which are scheduled for handover in 2026.
