LNG

Nakilat, one of the world’s largest LNG shipping operators, has partnered with the American Bureau of Shipping, the US classification society, to develop a decarbonization strategy.

Qatari liquefied natural gas fleet owner and operator, Nakilat, has taken delivery of a newbuild carrier called “Global Sea Spirit”, its 22nd conventional-sized vessel and taking Qatar’s overall LNG fleet size to 74 ships.

The 174,000 cubic metres capacity “Global Sea Spirit” will be commercially and technically managed by Nakilat affiliate Nakilat Shipping Qatar Ltd (NSQL).

The latest LNG carrier was built by South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) and is the third of four LNG newbuild carriers to be delivered to Global Shipping Co. Ltd., a joint venture owned 60 percent by Nakilat and 40 percent by Greek company Maran Ventures Inc.

The first two LNG carriers newbuilds of the series have high-pressure M-Type Electronically Controlled-Gas Injection (ME-GI) engines.

They were delivered in May 2020 and January 2021 respectively and are currently in service.

The “Global Sea Spirit” is the first Nakilat vessel with X-DF propulsion, a slow-speed diesel engine with a direct drive to the propellers, enabling a substantial reduction in the vessel’s fuel consumption.

The fourth in the current DSME series will also have X-DF engines and delivery is scheduled for early 2022.

Advantages

“Like the ME-GI system, vessels running with X-DF engines propulsion are proven to be more fuel efficient, reduce greenhouse emissions and are more environmentally friendly due to their lower carbon emissions,” said Nakilat.

The “Global Sea Spirit” is chartered to Cheniere Marketing, a unit of Houston, Texas-based Cheniere Energy, owner of the Sabine Pass plant in Louisiana and the Corpus Christi facility in Texas.

The newbuild is the optimum size preferred for sending US Gulf Coast cargoes via the Panama Canal to North Asia.

The delivery of all four newbuild LNG carriers by 2022 will bring Nakilat’s fleet to 74 vessels, which is just under 12 percent of the current global LNG fleet based on carrying capacity.

Of these, there are 24 LNG carriers, four liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier and one floating storage regasification unit (FSRU) vessel being managed in-house by NSQL. 

Winterthur Gas & Diesel, the Swiss-based specialist marine propulsion company, has unveiled new technology designed to slash methane emissions and cut fuel consumption in its X-DF dual-fuel engines used by LNG carriers and other vessels.

GasLog Ltd., the LNG fleet owner based in the Greek port of Piraeus with a total fleet of 35 vessels split with its US affiliate, has taken delivery of its latest carrier built in South Korea and chartered to UK utility Centrica plc.

The 180,000 cubic metres capacity vessel, named “GasLog Windsor”, was constructed at Samsung Heavy Industries.  It has X-DF propulsion, a combination of gas and diesel. and a Mark III Flex containment system from French technology firm GTT.

“Despite the industrial disruption in South Korea caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, the vessel was delivered on time and on budget,” said GasLog.

Centrica has US volumes from the US Gulf Coast and regasification capacity at the UK Isle of Grain terminal, located southeast of London. The UK utility also has cargoes booked from the Mozambique LNG project.

The company gave an operational update and said they remained focused on securing the health and safety of their employees, while also ensuring safe and reliable operations for their customers and the global natural gas supply chain.

As regards its fleet numbers, 19 carriers are owned by GasLog, 13 on the water and six on order, while one has been sold to a subsidiary of Mitsui & Co. of Japan and leased back to GasLog under a long-term charter.

The remaining 15 LNG carriers are owned by Nasdaq-listed GasLog Partners.

During the past two month or so, GasLog said its operational activity has been 100 percent.

GasLog and GasLog Partners have also accelerate opportunistically their dry-docking schedules during the slowdown of LNG trade in February and March.

“Four dry-dockings will have been completed by mid-April, all of which are expected to be on time and within budget, including the installation of ballast water treatment systems,” said GasLog.

The charter parties for all of the Group’s term-chartered vessels remain in effect with revenues as per the contract terms.

“During the first quarter of 2020, the Group’s tri-fuel diesel electric vessels operating in the spot and short-term market delivered time charter equivalent earnings of around $44,000 per day,” said GasLog.
“Presently, all of the Group’s vessels operating in the spot and short-term market that are not undergoing dry-dockings are on charters through to at least May,” it added.

Gaslog noted that there has been a marked increase in activity in the spot and short-term market in recent weeks, primarily driven by a resumption in industrial activity in China.

“Against a backdrop of unprecedented global uncertainty, I am very proud of the dedication of all our employees, whose health and safety remains our first priority,” said Paul Wogan, Chief Executive.

“I especially thank our seafarers for their commitment and professionalism while apart from their families and friends,” stated Wogan.

The “GasLog Windsor” is immediately delivered into an attractive seven-year charter to Centrica.

“This vessel is the first of seven newbuildings due to be delivered by the third quarter of 2021,” said GasLog.

“On a fully delivered basis, 60 percent of GasLog’s directly owned fleet will be modern X-DF vessels on multi-year term charters,” it added.

GasLog Ltd., the LNG carrier fleet owner with 20 vessels and with another 15 ships held by its US affiliate GasLog Partners, has launched its latest carrier at the South Korean Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard.

The carrier named “GasLog Georgetown” was expected to be delivered for service by late October 2020.

The vessel has capacity of 180,000 cubic metres and will also feature WinGD’s low-pressure gas X-DF propulsion.

The X-DF engines are able to operate both on natural gas or diesel fuel.

GasLog took delivery of two newbuilds in 2019 and signed long-term charters with two new customers, JERA Co. Inc. of Japan and the Spanish utility, Endesa SA.

GasLog, which was previously based in Monaco now has its headquarters in the Greek port of Piraeus, has a total fleet of 35 vessels, with 28 carriers on the water and seven on order.

The company relocated senior management and more of its employees to the Piraeus office to improve efficiency and to reduce overheads.

GasLog reported annual and fourth-quarter losses in February 2020 of $119.9 million versus a profit of $30.3M in the same quarter of 2018.

For the year, GasLog’s losses came to $114.6M compared with a profit of $126.4M in 2018.

Annual revenues rose to $668.8M from $618.3M in the previous year, while fourth-quarter revenues slipped to $182.2M from $188.6M in the prior-year quarter.

MISC Berhad, the Malaysian shipping line with an LNG fleet of more than 30 vessels, said it signed an agreement with Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) and trading house Mitsubishi Corp. to co-own two newbuild LNG carriers to mainly serve the LNG Canada export project in British Columbia.