Shipping Corp of India (SCI) has secured a one-year time charter for one of its VLGCs at a rate that shows period charters are holding up despite a glum spot market.
Shipbrokers said compatriot Indian Oil Corp has chartered the veteran 82,000-cbm LPG carrier Nanda Devi (built 2001) for $35,000 per day, or $1.05m per month.
The rate for the ship, which SCI bought for $36m from Oslo-listed BW LPG in July 2017, is unchanged from levels seen for one-year charters of VLGCs in November last year — before the spot market crashed.
It is also higher than what Latsco’s 82,000-cbm Hellas Glory (built 2008) fetched in a one-year deal with Trafigura. The Hellas Glory will earn $925,000 per month from that transaction, brokers said.
SCI and Indian Oil did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Nanda Devi charter, while Latsco and Trafigura declined to comment on the Hellas Glory deal.
In another VLGC deal, Bharat Petroleum chartered the 83,000-cbm Jag Vasant (built 2006) from Great Eastern Shipping for a year, with options for another 12 months. Brokers said the ship will earn $35,000 per day.
In November last year, the Bharat Petroleum hired another Great Eastern VLGC — the 77,000-cbm Jag Vishnu (built 2002) — for a year at the same rate.
The deals emerge as some European gas carrier brokers said the Indian market is one of the few that now yields a premium for shipowners.
BW LPG — the world’s largest VLGC owner — has sought to take advantage of this by setting up a joint venture with Global United India to serve the market.
