John Fredriksen's SFL Corp has appointed Germany's Lauterjung Shipmanagement as technical manager of its new LNG-fuelled car carriers.
The New York-listed shipping company said at the end of April that it was ordering two 7,000-car equivalent unit (ceu) vessels backed by charters to an unnamed European car maker over 10 years in a deal worth $200m.
Norwegian project finance and equity provider NRP Finans revealed the appointment and said it had advised SFL on the deal.
Lauterjung is an owner and manager with a fleet of around 20 vessels, including multipurpose units and bulkers. NRP said the company also manages the two car carriers in the NRP portfolio.
Delivery of the SFL ships will take place in 2023.
In the meantime, the charterer will use SFL's existing 6,500-ceu SFL Composer (built 2005) and SFL Conductor (built 2006) for the charter.
Chinese yards in the frame
SFL has revealed only that the new ships will be built in China.
TradeWinds has reported shipbuilding sources as saying the owner has shortlisted "a few" shipyards and should soon reach a decision.
State-owned Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry and Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) are said to be strong contenders.
NRP itself has been quiet on the acquisition front since adding a bulker to its fleet in tandem with a Greek shipowning partner in October.
The company bought the 28,219-dwt handysize King Corn (built 2011) in a partnership with Tide Line.
Clarksons lists NRP with five other handysizes, a supramax and a feeder containership.
