Pertamina Shipping is seeking offers from shipyards on a series of 22,000-cbm gas carrier newbuildings.
The transport arm of Indonesia’s state-owned oil major, Pertamina, has issued a tender for three semi-refrigerated, midsize vessels to be delivered in 2022.
A shipbuilding player familiar with the project said Pertamina Shipping is inviting technical and commercial bids by early June.
Shipbuilders in South Korea, China and Japan are said to have been approached for quotes on the dual-fuelled vessels.
Pertamina Shipping was not available for comment.
Yard interest
But a gas expert confirmed Pertamina Shipping’s tender, adding that South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) and China’s Jiangnan Shipyard had shown interest.
There have been no recent orders for similar vessels.
One shipbroker said Pertamina Shipping may need to pay between $45m and $50m per ship.
“A conventional semi-refrigerated 22,000-cbm newbuilding may cost around $40m,” a shipbuilding broker said. “An additional cost of $3m to $5m will be required if the gas carrier is to run on LPG.”
LPG has become a standard fuel of choice for VLGC newbuildings, with at least 16 vessels being ordered with LPG fuelling to date.
In the midsize gas carrier segment, Mexico’s Empresas Nieto is believed to be the only other company to have ordered any dual-fuelled newbuildings.
The outfit booked a single 38,000-dwt newbuilding at HMD for around $52m to be delivered next year.
The last time Pertamina Shipping launched a tender for LPG newbuildings was in 2011, when it sought one VLGC and a 5,000-cbm fully pressurised gas carrier.
It contracted Hyundai Heavy Industries to build the 84,000-cbm VLGC and China’s Taizhou Wuzhou Shipbuilding to construct the small gas ship, at reported prices of around $77m and $14m, respectively.
It took delivery of both newbuildings — the 84,000-cbm Pertamina Gas 2 and 5,000-cbm Gas Ambalat — in 2014.
VLGC focus
Shipbuilding players said that besides the dual-fuelled 22,000-cbm newbuildings, Pertamina Shipping is also keen to add a VLGC to its fleet.
“We understand it may put out a tender for the VLGC at a later date,” said a shipbuilding player.
However, a gas expert thinks the company may charter an existing VLGC if it plans to use the ship in the cabotage trades.
According to VesselsValue, Pertamina Shipping has a fleet of 88 vessels that includes a VLCC, aframax tankers, a handysize containership, floating storage and regasification units, and floating production, storage and offloading vessels.
In the gas segment, it has eight LPG units of less than 5,000 cbm, a pair of 23,000-cbm ships and two VLGCs.
Pertamina Shipping is also due to take delivery of two newbuildings this year — one 17,500-dwt tanker from domestic shipyard Anggrek Hitam and a 170,000-cbm FSRU from Samsung Heavy Industries.
The FSRU is co-owned with Japanese trading houses Sojitz Corp and Marubeni Corp. The newbuilding, which is reported to cost $221m, will be deployed to deliver LNG to a gas-fired power plant planned for Indonesia.
