Greek Shipowner Tsakos Energy Navigation has started discussions with South Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries on LNG carrier newbuildings.
The talks are at the initial stages, according to market sources, but could centre on delivery dates in 2014.
To date Hanjin has built six LNG carriers but none as yet for export.
The shipbuilder delivered four to Hanjin Shipping Company and two to STX Pan Ocean but currently has no LNG carriers on its orderbook, which could prove attractive to owners chasing elusive 2014 delivery slots.
The Korean yard has been at the centre of an increasingly bitter labour dispute over worker layoffs.
TEN has made a very slow start in the LNG sector and was at one time said to be keen to quit it altogether.
Recently, however, officials have been making more positive comments about exploring expansion opportunities.
The company invested in just one speculatively ordered vessel, the 149,700-cbm Neo Energy (built 2007), and had mixed fortunes with it.
However, the charter rates it has been able to achieve on the vessel have risen in tandem with this year’s hot market for LNG carriers.
In June, TEN confirmed it had fixed Neo Energy on a four-year charter starting early next year. Brokers said the ship has been taken on by BG Group at a rate of around $80,000 per day.
