Saga LNG Shipping is putting a midsize LNG carrier with a new design on the spot market.
The bid for spot work comes after a long-term charter fell through that would have been a "milk run" job in the South Pacific for Japan's MOL, sources said.
The 45,000-cbm LNG carrier Saga Dawn (built 2019), the prototype of Saga LNG's much-publicised but commercially untried LNT A-Box containment system, was delivered earlier this year by China Merchants Heavy Industry's Jiangsu yard. Following sea trials and gas trials, it has remained at anchor since this summer.
Saga LNG chairman David Wu declined to comment on the identity of possible charterers or end users but told TradeWinds this week he now expects the ship will trade in the spot market for three or four months before it gets long-term employment.
"End users have asked us to do it to let the ship prove itself before they take it on charter," Wu said.
Because of the specialised nature of the business and lack of a regular brokered market, Wu said, he is talking directly to prospective charterers, who include traders, terminal owners and shipowners.
Wu said Saga LNG is "very flexible" about the rate and expects a first charter within a couple of weeks.
Cost savings
The ship is Saga LNG's first, built on a cost-saving design that can be installed in a separately manufactured hull.
Several commercial sources believe the owner had expected to place the prototype ship with MOL this year for use on a long-term distribution route, which some sources placed in Papua New Guinea.
One source said MOL could not take the ship as planned because the tender process for the distribution contract for Papua New Guinea fell through.
The small ship's design is said to have suited the archipelago "milk run" well in that the progressive discharge of part cargoes from the A-Box tanks would not have created the sloshing problem that membrane-type ships would have faced.
Patent rights
Wu, the Norwegian medical doctor turned shipping investor behind Landmark Capital, bought rights to the patented A-Box system from its Norwegian inventors, LNT Marine. He has has plans to develop a fleet of such ships in a range of sizes.
The focus is on midsize ships for regional distribution and bunkering customers, but Wu has said the A-Box design has no size limits. However, he also has plans for a smaller LNG bunker vessel of 6,000 cbm, with conventional type-C tanks.
Saga LNG's main talking points in marketing the ship and the design have included low cost and flexibility of use.
One occasional niche chartering opportunity to which Wu said Saga LNG's small and medium-size ships are suited is supplying newbuildings with partial cargoes for use in gas trials. Terminals are sometimes unwilling to load directly to newbuildings for safety or insurance reasons, so there is a need for smaller vessels to transfer the cargoes.
