West African producer Nigeria LNG (NLNG)’s shipping arm is offering three of its steam-turbine-driven LNG carriers for sale as owners start to look at their fleet-renewal options in the face of incoming new emissions regulations.
Brokers said the three oldest vessels in Bonny Gas Transport’s fleet are being marketed for sale.
They are the 137,231-cbm LNG Rivers and 137,098-cbm LNG Sokoto (both built 2002), as well as the 137,065-cbm LNG Bayelsa (built 2003). The vessels are all Moss-type LNG carriers that were built at Hyundai Heavy Industries.
But it is not yet confirmed that those are the ships are for sale.
NLNG has been contacted about the reports of the vessel sales, along with one of the brokers marketing the ships. But no response has been received as yet.
Bonny Gas Transport controls a fleet of 23 chartered LNG carriers. Of these, it owns 13 vessels comprising seven steam-turbine vessels and six dual-fuel diesel-electric ships.
In 2020, TradeWinds reported that a wide-ranging review of Bonny Gas Transport’s fleet — codenamed ‘Project Mahogany’ — was underway.
Shipbroker and consultant Poten & Partners was linked to the process. But brokers said the three ships currently being marketed have been put with two small shops.
Shipowners and projects with steam-turbine LNG carriers in their fleets are being forced to look closely at how their vessels will perform under the new Energy Efficiency Existing Ship Index and Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) emissions regulations coming into force in January 2023.
CII, in particular — under which ships are given an A to E rating annually based on their CO2 emissions — is expected to have an impact on the LNG steamships, forcing them to trade at slower speeds.
In response, some owners have been looking at retrofit options for some of the older vessels in their LNG carrier fleets to improve their efficiencies.
Others have been taking the sales route or looking at conversion opportunities for their ships.
Strong price
In its second-quarter results statement on 28 July, US-listed GasLog Partners said it had sold, on subjects, the 145,000-cbm Methane Shirley Elisabeth (built 2007) to a third party for approximately $54m. TradeWinds later linked the sale of the vessel to Indonesia’s Silo Maritime.
Brokers said $54m is a strong price on a steamship of this vintage. But they added that it set something of a benchmark in the market.
Those asked by TradeWinds about the likely price for the NLNG-controlled ships voiced widely differing opinions.
One consultant with knowledge of the vessels put them at around $35m each. Another broker said they would be nearer scrap levels of closer to $20m.
All said, it depends on the condition of the vessels and how they have been maintained and traded during their lifetimes.
Conversions may also be an option for the NLNG trio. Moss-type vessels can be a popular choice for LNG storage as their tank type means there is no problem with sloshing during partial filing states.
