In the New York-listed LNG specialist’s second-quarter earnings briefing management said the pursuit of financing options for a series of 174,000-dwt vessels on order at Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea would likely begin next year

“Given that [all four] deliver in 2016 we expect to start looking at financing these vessels in 2014,” said CFO Simon Crowe. “You may recall that we have a good track record of achieving tail-heavy payment terms so it still remains a little bit early to enter into such financing commitments.”

When pressed about the future of its chartering strategy and fleet expansion initiatives management indicated the company is keeping its options open but didn’t rule out the possibility of penning short term contracts and the potential acquisition of second-hand tonnage.

“I think there's going to be opportunities as well in on the water vessels because I think we're seeing some of these ships delivering into owners who don't necessarily have the platform that we have, so we may see some opportunities there,” Wogan said.

“I think as each of those opportunities come up, be it ships on the water or newbuildings, we'll look at what's the best way to fund those vessels and that may be additional debt, it may be taking on some equity, but certainly we'll be looking at the way hat makes the most accretive sense for the business.”

GasLog is led by Greek shipping magnate Peter Livanos and maintains offices in Monaco, Bermuda and Athens where it oversees 14 LNG carriers. The fleet includes eight newbuildings, of which six have secured employment.

The most recent additions to the backlog include two units that are widely believed to carry a combined price tag of around $415m. The deal also came with options to construct up to six additional units at Samsung.

In a market briefing that followed the second-quarter call Michael Webber of Wells Fargo Securities noted: “GasLog’s growth profile and solid charter coverage into what should be a firming LNG market in 2016-17 support its plan for a potential MLP spin later in 2013 or 2014.”

Shares of GasLog slid 0.44% to $13.54 in late trading. Citing a variety of near-term catalysts like the launch of an MLP, Sam Margolin of Cowen Securities believes the stock could hit $16.00. At last check this was $1.00 lower than the price target issued by Global Hunter's Omar Nokta.

You can read GLOG's second-quarter conference call presentation in full by clicking on the link located under the Related Media section to the right of this article