Peter Livanos-led GasLog says documents for an initial public offering (IPO) of the vehicle can be filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) after the owner's directors approved the move.

The MLP, which will follow in the footsteps of rivals Golar, Teekay and Dynagas, will take on GasLog’s LNG carriers with multi-year charters.

It is unlikely to be the only Wall Street listing for Livanos this year as tanker owner Euronav, in which he is a major shareholder, is seeking a position on the New York Stock Exchange.

A dozen ships on period deals

GasLog owns a fleet of 15 LNG carriers, including seven newbuildings on order.

According to its last quarterly update for the third quarter of 2013, 12 of GasLog’s owned fleet have contracts in place, including six of its newbuildings. One of those ships has since been delivered.

Based on those deals, GasLog said its charter revenue would rise from $56.28m in 2012 to $280m in 2017.

GasLog first mentioned the idea of a spin-off MLP when it reported its results for the third quarter of 2012.

Livanos said at the time: “We are studying a number of alternative financial structures, including an MLP, that we feel could be beneficial to our growth aspirations and shareholder value.”

GasLog raised $310m from its own IPO in early 2012.

Capital markets open

According to Clarksons, shipowners completed IPOs worth $2.75bn in 2013, with over $6bn raised via follow-on shares issues.

Dynagas LNG Partners collected $225m from its MLP spin-off in November.

Unlike GasLog, however, the George Procopiou-backed owner did not have a listed parent.

GasLog’s chief executive Paul Wogan and chief financial officer Simon Crowe were both travelling and could not be reached for comment today.