LNG

GasLog Ltd., the Greek LNG fleet owner and operator with 33 ships, reported a drop in quarterly earnings while new charter agreements were signed along with a re-financing deal covering 23 carriers in the fleet.

The company’s profits for the fourth quarter more than halved to $31.44 million from $68.70M in the prior-year quarter.

GasLog’s annual profits dropped by around $100M to $196.30M in 2023 from the $297.24M logged in 2022.

The company, whose headquarters are in Hamilton, Bermuda, said adjusted fourth-quarter profits declined to $53.27 million from $75.57M in the same three months of 2022 ,while revenues also fell to $229.94M from $244.84M a year ago.

Charter extension

During the quarter GasLog extended by five years the time-charter agreement of the “GasLog Singapore”, a tri-fuel, diesel-electric (TFDE) LNG carrier, with New York-based New Fortress Energy. The contract is now due to expire in 2030.

In addition, the company’s affiliate, GasLog Partners LP, signed a multi-year time-charter with a major energy exploration company for the “GasLog Santiago”, also a TFDE vessel.

A third charter deal was for the carrier, “Methane Jane Elizabeth”, a steam turbine propulsion ship, and signed with Cheniere Marketing International, a unit of Houston, Texas-based Cheniere Energy. The contract is now due to expire in 2025.

GasLog also signed a new $2.8 billion five-year banking deal in the form of a senior secured revolving credit facility in November 2023.

“Involving 14 international banks, the facility refinanced the outstanding debt of $2.1Bln secured by 23 LNG carriers across both GasLog and GasLog Partners, following the acquisition by GasLog in July 2023 of all the outstanding common units of GasLog Partners,” explained GasLog Ltd.

Refinanced ships

The 23 LNG carriers, comprising 12 GasLog vessels and 11 GasLog Partners ships, include 10 dual-fuel two-stroke engine propulsion (X-DF) carriers, 10 TFDE vessels and three steam-propelled carriers.

“The facility has a five-year tenor, including two one-year extension options and simplifies GasLog’s debt structure, providing incremental available liquidity while reducing interest cost and debt service requirements,” GasLog Ltd added.

The GasLog board also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per common share of GasLog to GasLog’s shareholders of record as of February 15, 2024.

At the end of December, GasLog had $221.4M of cash and cash equivalents and an additional amount of $10M of time deposits.

GasLog additionally had $3.1bln of debts outstanding under its credit facilities and bond agreements, of which $107.9M is repayable within one year.

GasLog Ltd, the operator of a fleet of 27 vessels along with affiliate GasLog Partners, posted a more than 78 percent surge in annual profits as global energy shipping activities intensified and charter options were extended.

Of the top ship-owning nations, the Greeks continue to outperform the nation’s size with a fleet ranked third globally behind Japan and China respectively in both the number of vessels and the total value, though Greece’s fleet value has been augmented by an increasing number of quality LNG carriers.

Greece, the leading nation in liquefied natural gas shipping, has held a ceremony attended by the Greek and Bulgarian prime ministers marking the advancement of the Alexandroupolis floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and revealing that a second FSRU was planned.

Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN) Ltd, the Greek-owned shipping line with over 70 vessels in operation or ordered including LNG vessels and various classes of oil tankers from Aframax to Panamax and Very Large Crude Carriers, has given an overview of the market since the start of the Russian conflict in Ukraine.

Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) of South Korea said it was awarded two combined orders worth 1.84 trillion Korean won ($1.53 billion) to build two LNG carriers for Greek company Maran Gas Maritime under the Angelicoussis Shipping Group and six containerships for another European commercial line.

GasLog Ltd, which controls an LNG carrier fleet of 35 vessels, has made its first major foray into the debt securities market to lower interest on financing since the merger in mid-2021 with a unit of giant US investment US fund BlackRock.

GasLog Ltd entered into a Note Purchase Agreement with the US investment funds, the Carlyle Group and EIG Global Energy Partners, for a $325 million credit facility.

The Notes carry an interest rate of 7.75 percent and are due in 2029.

Carlyle’s global credit platform made the investment with capital primarily from its Infrastructure Credit Fund.

EIG extended its funding through various funds and accounts in the investment group’s direct lending division.

“GasLog anticipates drawing down the Facility in March 2022. The proceeds of the facility will be used to refinance the company’s 8.875 percent Senior Notes due in March 2022,” said GasLog.

“Any remaining proceeds may be used to pay transaction costs and expenses incurred in connection with the private placement and/or general corporate purposes,” added the company, whose corporate headquarters are in Hamilton, Bermuda and operational base is in the Greek port of Piraeus.

GasLog completed a merger in June 2021 with BlackRock’s Global Energy and Power Infrastructure division and de-listed its common shares from the New York Stock Exchange.

The GasLog’s ownership structure has three main shareholders in parent GasLog Ltd and subsidiary GasLog Partners LP.

The Greek Livanos family owns 55 percent, the Monaco-based Onassis Foundation holds 12 percent and BlackRock Global Energy and Power infrastructure fund (GEPIF) owns 45 percent.

The GasLog Ltd, whose Chairman remains Peter G. Livanos, has an LNG fleet comprising 20 vessels, 12 dual-fuel, seven tri-fuel, diesel electric (TFDE) and one steam-turbine carrier.

GasLog Ltd subsidiary, GasLog Partners LP and whose Chief Executive since August 2021 has been Paolo Enoizi, owns 15 LNG carriers, including 10 TFDE ships and five steam-turbine vessels.

The contracted revenue backlog at the end of June 2021 for the Partnership’s fleet was more than $660M and the average age of the vessels was nine years.

Tsakos Energy Navigation (TEN), the Greek shipping company with a small LNG fleet of three vessels, has ordered four LNG-powered Aframaz tankers from a South Korean shipyard as first-half earnings resulted in a loss.

Korea Shipbuilding and Offshore Engineering Co. (KSOE), the nation's largest shipyard group, has won orders to build seven liquefied natural gas carriers at a time of increased competition from Chinese shipyards.

The company said the orders were worth a combined 1.56 trillion won ($1.35 billion) in value and come at a time when the Korean industry was been winning a larger portion of global orders for all kinds of ships.

KSOE is a holding company of three shipbuilders comprising Hyundai Heavy Industries, Hyundai Samho and Hyundai Mipo Dockyard Co.

With the latest LNG newbuilds, KSOE said it had obtained orders for 176 ships and two offshore plants worth the equivalent of $16.8Bln so far this year, exceeding its annual order target of almost $15.0Bln.

The Korean LNG carrier orders are a mix from both Asian and European shipowners and covered all three subsidiaries.

South Korea had re-taken the global No. 1 ranking for monthly orders in May 2021 after losing it to China in April 2021, nine months after retaking the leading position in global shipbuilding in July 2020.

During the first part of 2021, Korean shipbuilders also won orders for 31 ships to be propelled by LNG, taking up 46 percent of 67 LNG-powered ships ordered in the year to date.

The Korean yards are still favoured by Russia in its LNG shipping expansion.

A Russian newbuild ordered from Hyundai Heavy Industries will be the latest in a series of Sovcomflot’s next-generation conventional Atlanticmax LNG carriers, with three sister ships already in operation, the “SCF La Perouse”, the “SCF Barents” and the “SCF Timmerman”.

The newbuild will have capacity of 174,000 cubic metres and be owned and operated by Sovcomflot, with options for HHI to build two additional vessels.

The newest Korean-built Russian vessel would be fitted with an X-DF propulsion system, operated by a slow-speed diesel engine with a direct drive to the propellers, enabling a substantial reduction in the vessel’s fuel consumption.

Höegh LNG Holdings, the floating terminal projects company with 12 vessels and contracts for China and India, has been acquired in a takeover by Norwegian interests and a unit of US investment bank Morgan Stanley after a vote by shareholders held in Bermuda.