BW LPG has agreed to sell its last VLGC newbuilding to Nissen Kaiun and lease it back, and will timecharter in a further two gas carriers from the Japanese shipowner.
The unnamed 84,000-cbm newbuilding is scheduled for delivery this year from Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME).
BW LPG is also to timecharter two VLGC newbuildings from Nissen Kaiun that will be built at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in Japan. Delivery is expected in 2020.
All three of the timecharter-in agreements include purchase options, the Oslo-listed company said. Last week, BW LPG signed a $221m debt facility agreement to finance four VLGC newbuildings.
“The benefits of the transactions are threefold: it allows us to renew our chartered-in fleet, enables us to offer our customers more flexible solutions and it further strengthens our relationship with Japan, which is one of the world’s most important LPG demand centres,” Martin Ackermann, BW LPG’s CEO, said of the VLGC deals.
Product tanker owner BW Pacific has also agreed to timecharter-in four MR product tankers from Nissen Kaiun.
The vessels are currently being built at Japan United Marine Corporation (JMU) shipyard and will feature “leading-edge technology” onboard, BW said. It was not disclosed when the vessels are due for delivery.
The VLGC and MR tanker deals were signed between the two companies at a ceremony on April 22.
