Signing deadlines on newbuilding and time charter contracts for 17 LNG carriers worth more than $3bn have been extended as TotalEnergies and its partners hang fire on their Mozambique LNG project.
Shipbuilding sources said an end-of-May date on the vessels — nine of which are to be built at Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries and eight at Samsung Heavy Industries — has been pushed out into September.
Delivery dates, originally due to start from about the end of 2023, will now begin in the second quarter of 2024.
Mitsui OSK Lines has signed up to five vessels and K Line four at Hyundai Samho, while NYK Line and Maran Gas Maritime are on four apiece at SHI.
It is unclear if a six-month delay will give shipbuilders any opportunity to conjure up new berths for other vessels. Newbuilding slots are in short supply at the major South Korean yards because of a rush on containership orders.
Brokers also question whether there will be price rises on the ships in view of recent steel plate cost increases.
One said the ship specifications had been drawn up some time ago and there may be interest in updating them, although this could prove too complex.
Initial contracts on the 17 ships were pencilled in at the end of 2020. But confirmation of the vessels and the charters on them was conditional on the project moving ahead, with the partners having the option to cancel before the May deadline.
In the interim, lead shareholder TotalEnergies — the French energy major that changed its name from Total at the end of May — declared force majeure on the 12.88-million tonnes per annum project on 26 April after a rise in the number and severity of attacks by militant insurgents in the country.
The attacks closed in on the project’s Afungi site in the northern province of Cabo Delgado and all personnel were evacuated.
TotalEnergies, which holds a 26.5% stake in Mozambique LNG, later said it was pushing back the project start date by one year and expressed hopes that the security situation would improve.
TradeWinds has been told by staff handling the newbuildings and shipping elements of the project out of Singapore that the number of employees there was slimmed down in the wake of the delays, with just a skeleton team remaining.
The delays to Mozambique LNG, which will be the first major onshore liquefaction project in East Africa, give rivals the chance to steal a march and mop up LNG buyers.
Russian gas producer Novatek has announced plans to advance the delivery of the third train to 2025 for its under-construction, 19.8-mtpa Arctic LNG 2 project.
The company is engaged in a tender process for a raft of Arc4 LNG carrier newbuildings to handle part of the shipping requirement.
Qatar is also said to be “on schedule” with its North Field Expansion project, which will boost its exports from 77 mtpa to 127 mtpa.
Qatar Petroleum has reserved more than 150 berths spread across South Korea’s big three yards and China’s main LNG shipbuilder, and is expected to move forward on the first newbuilding contracts for these this year.
