LNG

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company, has signed technical services agreements with Eastern Pacific Shipping and its LNG affiliate Cool Company Ltd for a global fleet of 33 vessels, including 24 LNG carriers.

Under the agreement GTT will support Eastern Pacific and CoolCo with the maintenance and operation of their LNG fleet and six Very Large Ethane Carriers and three LNG-fuelled container ships operated by EPS, all equipped with Mark III or No. 96 membrane containment systems technologies developed by GTT.

GTT said it would provide on-site technical assistance for inspection, maintenance, repairs, operations and engineering services.

Eastern Pacific and CoolCo will also benefit from access to the HEARS® emergency hotline, which enables ship-owners and their crews to contact GTT’s experts at any time to respond to operational issues.

“We welcome the signature of this agreement with our key partners EPS and CoolCo, who operate a large and diverse fleet of vessels equipped with GTT technologies,” said Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and Chief Executive of GTT.

Support services

“Our tailor-made support services allow us to guarantee maximum efficiency and safety for the vessels in operation,” added Berterottière.

Richard Tyrrell, CEO of CoolCo, explained that GTT was an important partner of the company.

“We look forward to continuing to work with GTT and to extending our levels of collaboration,” Tyrrell added.

Cyril Ducau, CEO of Eastern Pacific, said his company was pleased to expand its partnership with GTT.

“GTT’s technology will play a key role as EPS rejuvenates its fleet with eco-friendly tonnage,” Ducau stated.

GTT has also been making progress in the design of the next generation of LNG carriers with fewer storage tanks.

The Paris-based company and South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries recently received an approval from UK classification society Lloyd’s Register for a new design of GTT’s three-tank concept.

Carrier re-designs

The new design is for a new LNG carrier featuring GTT’s three-tank Mark III Flex membrane containment system, which will also allow for the reduction in the length of vessels.

Analysts noted that about 30 years ago, GTT upgraded LNG carriers from five storage tanks to four tanks and the company now hopes to bring the market forward with a three-tank LNG carrier.

This approval in principle is the result of a joint development project initiated in 2022 and aimed at designing a new generation of LNG vessels.

GTT explained that the three-tank LNG carrier concept permits an increase in LNG cargo capacity and improves maintenance efficiencies through the suppression of one cofferdam, one pump tower and all associated cryogenic equipment.

The company added that the design also improved the ratio between the volume of LNG transported and the surface area of the cryogenic liner.

Cool Company (CoolCo), the LNG shipping joint venture led by Eastern Pacific Shipping and which is growing its owned and managed fleets, said the market was showing continued strength as it entered into a new time-charter agreement for one of its tri-fuel, diesel-electric vessels.

The company, headquartered in Bermuda, said the multi-year charter with an energy major starts in early 2024 upon redelivery from the vessel’s current charter, adding backlog.

“We are delighted to have secured this attractive time charter, locking in cover at a rate that reflects the continued strength of the LNG carrier market ” said Richard Tyrrell, Chief Executive of CoolCo.

“The forward nature of this contract demonstrates the desire of LNG producers, offtakers, and portfolio players to secure modern tonnage to transport the dramatically increasing volumes of LNG coming online through the middle and latter parts of the decade,” stated Tyrrell.

“With vessel availability coinciding with seasonal peaks for chartering, CoolCo stands to benefit from the ongoing LNG carrier re-pricing cycle. Happy Norwegian Constitution Day to our investors,” added the CEO.

Shares

CoolCo’s shares are registered with the US Security and Exchange Commission and listed for trading on the New York Stock Exchange in addition to the Euronext Growth list in Oslo, both under the ticker “CLCO”.

CoolCo also has an owned fleet of 11 LNG vessels and a managed fleet of 18 ships.

The owners of the managed ships include sector leaders Golar LNG, Avenir LNG and New Fortress Energy.

The CoolCo-owned fleet comprises the following vessels: the “Golar Bear” the “Golar Crystal”, the “Golar Frost”, the “Golar Glacier”, the “Golar Ice”, the “Golar Kelvin”, the “Golar Snow”, the “Kool Baltic”, the “Kool Boreas” and the “Kool Firn” and the “Kool Orca” 

Cool Company Ltd, the LNG shipping joint venture owned by Eastern Pacific Shipping, one major shareholder and investors who bought into an initial public offering, is moving forward with plans for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange and will require a temporary trading suspension.

CoolCo is becoming a speciality LNG fleet owner after arranging the phased acquisition of the company’s initial eight tri-fuel, diesel-electric (TFDE) LNG carriers in 2022.

There was then also a subsequent asset acquisition of four LNG carriers on November 10, 2022, from an affiliate of Eastern Pacific Shipping.

Prior to the listing on the NYSE, Coolco additionally altered its ownership structure as Golar LNG sold its stake.

Prior to February 28, CoolCo's 53.68 million shares were split between 26.79M (49.9 percent) owned by Eastern Pacific, 22.43M (41.8 percent) publicly owned after the IPO and 4.46M shares (8.3 percent) held by Golar LNG Ltd.

Golar LNG then announced that it had sold 4.46M shares in CoolCo to Mi Hong Yoon, a member of the CoolCo board, at a price of 130 Norwegian crown ($12.5) per share and a total of over $55 million.

Coolco said that regarding the previous public filing of a registration statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to list its common shares on the NYSE, the US regulatory review process has concluded.

“However, following this, the company has filed an acceleration request asking the SEC to declare its registration statement effective on March 14, 2023,” CoolCo explained.

Alterations

“In connection with the listing of the company’s shares on the NYSE and to facilitate the transfer of the company’s shares between the NYSE and Euronext Growth Oslo, the company will amend the registration structure for its shares,” said Hamilton, Bermuda-headquartered CoolCo.

The company noted that a trading suspension of the shares would be required in connection with the re-registration process.

Further, the company will change its ticker code on Euronext Growth Oslo from “COOL” to CLCO” when trading resumes following the trading suspension.

Coolco is currently finalizing the administrative processes in relation to the re-registration.

“Once these processes are concluded, the company will confirm the dates for the expected trading suspension and the listing date,” it added.

Cool Company Ltd, the LNG shipping joint venture formed between Eastern Pacific Shipping and Golar LNG has issued a business and financial update as it builds a modern fleet and prepares for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange after last year’s initial public offering.

Golar LNG, the shipping company now specialising in a small but growing fleet of floating LNG project vessels, increased revenues as well as net profits due to one-items while forecasting future high revenues from floating liquefaction and FLNG terminal projects as it also spun off eight modern carriers to a joint venture.

Jan 27 (LNGJ) - Golar LNG has provided a further update on the formation of Cool Company Ltd along with Eastern Pacific Shipping, the Singapore-based shipping line. Golar and Eastern Pacific have agreed to join forces to run a Golar spin-off initially comprising eight tri-fuel, diesel-electric LNG carriers in the firm called CoolCo. Golar said that “based on investor feedback” CoolCo has now decided to launch a book-building process for a private placement of $250 million.

   “The anticipated proceeds, together with a contemplated debt refinancing, will be used to finance the acquisition of the 8 TFDE vessels from Golar, secure attractive financing and provide CoolCo with working capital,” it explained. “Eastern Pacific has pre-subscribed and guaranteed an allocation of a minimum $150M in the contemplated private placement,” it added. The book-building period in the placement is underway and closes on January 28 at 16:30 Central European Time.

Jan 20 (LNGJ) - Golar LNG said progress had been made in the formation of Cool Company Ltd along with Eastern Pacific Shipping. The Singapore-based shipping line and Golar LNG have agreed to join forces to run a Golar spin-off initially comprising eight tri-fuel, diesel-electric LNG carriers in a firm called CoolCo.

   Eastern Pacific currently operates a fleet of 19 million deadweight-tonnes across three core segments and will now invest an initial US$150 million in CoolCo. The spin-off would have an initial market capitalization of $375M and Golar would retain a shareholding of a minimum of $125M. The new company to be listed on the Oslo stock exchange after an initial public offering and share placement.