Carrier Newbuildings News

Classification society DNV has entered into a Joint Development Project (JDP) with AL Group and its Singapore company Asiatic Lloyd Maritime LLP to explore the feasibility of carbon capture and storage (CCS) on board AL’s 7,100TEU containership and Kamsarmax bulk carrier newbuildings.Under the JDP, DNV will cooperate with AL on a techno-economic study of CCS on board the vessels using DNV's FuelPath to assess the economic potential of the different fuel and technology strategies.

Teekay LNG's liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker venture, the Yamal LNG Joint Venture, is no longer subject to U.S. sanctions after a change of ownership at its partner China LNG Shipping (Holdings) Ltd, Teekay companies said late on Tuesday.Teekay LNG and China LNG Shipping each own half of Yamal LNG Joint Venture.

Teekay LNG’s 50/50 joint venture with China LNG, which owns four on-the-water ARC7 LNG carriers and two ARC7 LNG carrier newbuildings, is also no longer classified as a “blocked person” under Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) rules.According to a press release from the owners and operators of LNG carriers, providing LNG and LPG marine transportation services firm, Teekay Corporation and Teekay LNG Partners announced that COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation, a COSCO group firm, has completed an ownership restructuring on arms-length terms which has resulted in Teekay LNG’s joint venture partner, China LNG Shipping Holdings.The  JV had been then designated as a "blocked person" under U.S.

South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) and DNV GL have signed a framework agreement which will see them cooperate on joint development projects (JDPs) for future technologies in the shipbuilding and offshore plant industries.The Norway-headquartered classification society said in a release that the agreement was signed by DSME President & CEO Sung-Geun Lee and DNV GL Group President & CEO Remi Eriksen at the DNV GL headquarters in Høvik.“Through the JDPs with DNV GL, we aim to develop new technologies to meet the needs of our clients and further provide the direction in the shipbuilding and offshore industries,” said Sung-Geun Lee.

MAN Diesel & Turbo’s dual-fuel MAN L23/30DF engine successfully passed its Type Approval Test (TAT) at CSSC Marine Power (CMP) in Zhenjiang in front of the industry’s main classification societies. The five-cylinder test engine in China had an output of 125 kW per cylinder at a nominal speed of 720/750 rpm. Finn Fjeldhøj – Head of Small-Bore, Four-Stroke Engineering – MAN Diesel & Turbo, expressed the company’s high expectations for the engine and said: “The L23/30DF covers a power range of 625 – 1,200kW, which makes it particularly attractive for such ocean-going vessels as bulkers of most sizes, general cargo ships, chemical tankers, and smaller LNG-carriers, as well as ships operating in ports and near the coast.

Teekay LNG Partners said its first icebreaker liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier newbuild, Eduard Toll, recently completed gas trials.    Eduard Toll is Teekay’s first of six 172,000 cubic meter ARC7 LNG carrier newbuildings to be constructed for the Yamal LNG project.    The ARC 7 LNG carrier was launched in January this year at the South Korean Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard.   The vessel has been designed and built to perform year-round navigation through the Arctic and has the icebreaking ability allowing it to proceed through ice up to 2.1 m thick.   Yamal is expected to produce 16.5 million metric tons of LNG annually by 2019, which will require a total of 15 ARC7 icebreaker LNG carriers.

Skangas and ESL Shipping have entered into an agreement for providing gas fuel to ESL’s LNG-powered bulk carrier newbuildings. These two new vessels will start operating during first half of 2018. The first of the two vessels was named “Viikki” in June 2017, honoring the shipping company’s tradition to name its ships for places in Helsinki. “This agreement is a milestone for Skangas. Ms Viikki will be the first vessel that we will serve from the new LNG terminal in Tornio”, explains Kimmo Rahkamo, CEO of Skangas. “There will be more to come. This is supported by ESL Shipping. “Our new vessels are full of innovation, and they are pioneers in eco-friendliness and transportation efficiency,” says Mikki Koskinen, Managing Director of ESL Shipping.

DryShips Inc. has successfully completed the previously announced $200 million common stock offering, in which the Company raised net proceeds of $198 million, pursuant to the prospectus supplement filed on February 17, 2017. Following the completion of the offering, the Company has approximately 152,055,576 common shares outstanding. George Economou, Chairman and CEO commented: "We are very pleased to have successfully raised an additional $198 million of equity, which will increase our total available liquidity to about $455 million. The Company is a diversified owner of ocean going cargo vessels that operate worldwide. The Company owns a fleet of (i) 13 Panamax drybulk carriers…

Teekay LNG Partners L.P. has entered into a 15-year time-charter contract with the Yamal LNG project, sponsored by Novatek OAO, Total SA, China National Petroleum Corporation and Silk Road Fund, to provide Yamal LNG with conventional liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation services. Yamal LNG is scheduled to commence production in 2017. The fixed-rate time-charter contract will be serviced by one of Teekay LNG's previously unchartered 174,000 cubic meter MEGI LNG carrier newbuildings that is scheduled for delivery in early-2019. "We are pleased that our commercial team has secured this new 15-year charter contract which expands our service offering to the now fully-financed Yamal LNG project and reduces our uncommitted newbuildings to only one vessel…

Teekay LNG Partners L.P. announced that it has entered into a 13-year time-charter contract with BP Shipping Limited (BP) for one liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier newbuilding, plus an option exercisable by BP by the end of the third quarter of 2015 for one additional LNG carrier under similar terms. The vessels, including the optional vessel if exercised, will primarily provide LNG transportation services for BP’s LNG volumes from the Freeport LNG project located on Quintana Island near Freeport, Texas, which consists of three LNG trains with a total capacity of 13.2 metric tons per annum, scheduled for start-up in 2018. In connection with signing the contracts with BP…

Knightsbridge Shipping Limited announce that the second and final stage of its vessel acquisition transaction with Frontline 2012 Ltd. has closed.   The company has issued 31 million shares to Frontline 2012 Ltd. in exchange for 12 Cape size bulk carrier newbuildings.   Knightsbridge said it will have 111.1 million common shares outstanding following this transaction

Bermuda-based Knightsbridge Tankers Limited announced that it has closed the first stage of its vessel acquisition transaction. Knightsbridge has issued 31 million shares in exchange for 11 Cape size bulk carrier newbuildings and two Newcastlemax newbuildings. knightsbridgetankers.com

Teekay LNG Partners L.P. announced that it has acquired from BG Group ownership interests in four 174,000 cubic meter Tri-Fuel Diesel Electric (TFDE) liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier newbuildings, which will be constructed by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd. in China. The vessels, which are scheduled to deliver between September 2017 and January 2019, will each operate under 20-year time-charter contracts, plus extension options, with Methane Services Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BG.

The Export-Import Bank of China, a wholly state-owned bank has informed official news agency Xinhua that it is to lend US$400-million U.S. dollars to four separate shipowning companies.for building 4 liquified natural gas (LNG) carriers in a Shanghai shipyard. Citing information from the bank, Xinhua reports that the four carriers, each with a shipment capacity of 174,000 cubic meters are for: CNOOC Energy Technology and Services, China LNG Shipping Limited, Teekay LNG Partners and BW's LNG investment arm. Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a core enterprise under the China State Shipbuilding Corporation, will build the carriers.

Noboru Ueda, Chairman and President of ClassNK announced that it has granted type approval for the new MX-200F welding consumable, developed by Kobe Steel Co., Ltd. (KOBELCO) to greatly improve welding efficiency and coating quality in commercial vessels. Up until now, shipbuilders using conventional fillet welding consumables had to make two welding passes for the required weld leg lengths of around 8mm or above. As the IACS Common Structural Rules (CSR) require the use of 8mm leg lengths in some structural members, this has meant that the relevant welding time for oil tanker and bulk carrier newbuildings has virtually doubled. The IMO Performance Standard for Protective Coatings (PSPC)…

The Company reports net income of $10.7 million and earnings per share of $0.35 for the first quarter compared with net income of $3.5 million and earnings per share of $0.12 for the preceding quarter. Net income in the first quarter includes $9.7 million, which was received as partial settlement for a claim for damages and unpaid charter hire. The average daily time charter equivalent ("TCE") earned by the Capesize vessels in the first quarter was $25,200 compared with $28,600 in the preceding quarter.

Classification society ClassNK announced that it has granted type approval for the new MX-200F welding consumable, developed by Kobe Steel Co., Ltd. (KOBELCO) to improve welding efficiency and coating quality in commercial vessels. Until now, shipbuilders using conventional fillet welding consumables had to make two welding passes for the required weld leg lengths of around 8mm or above. As the IACS Common Structural Rules (CSR) require the use of 8mm leg lengths in some structural members, this has meant that the relevant welding time for oil tanker and bulk carrier newbuildings has virtually doubled. The IMO Performance Standard for Protective Coatings (PSPC)…

Teekay LNG Partners L.P. is to acquire a second 155,900 cubic meter liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier newbuilding from Awilco LNG ASA, a Norway-based owner and operator of LNG carriers. The vessel is currently under construction by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. (DSME) of South Korea and is expected to deliver in the fourth quarter of 2013, when it will be chartered back to Awilco. As with the first vessel, Teekay LNG will purchase the second vessel for a price of $205 million less a $50 million upfront prepayment of charter hire by Awilco which is in addition to the daily bareboat charter rate. Awilco has fixed-price purchase obligations for both vessels at the end of both the firm charter period and option period.

Teekay LNG Partners L.P. announced that it has agreed to acquire a 155,900 cubic meter (cbm) liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier newbuilding from Awilco LNG ASA, a Norwegian-based owner and operator of LNG carriers. The vessel, which is currently under construction by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd., (DSME) of South Korea, is expected to deliver in the third quarter of 2013, and subsequent to delivery from DSME to Awilco, Teekay LNG will purchase the vessel and bareboat charter the vessel back to Awilco at a fixed rate for a firm period of five years, plus a one-year extension option. Teekay LNG will purchase the vessel for a price of $205 million less a $50 million upfront prepayment of charter hire by Awilco which is in addition to the daily bareboat charter rate.

Teekay LNG Partners L.P. has exercised two of its three existing options with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd., (DSME) of South Korea for the construction of two 173,400 cubic meter liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier newbuildings for delivery in 2016. These two newbuilding LNG carriers are in addition to the two LNG carriers Teekay LNG ordered from DSME in December 2012, which have since secured time-charter employment commencing upon delivery. These newbuildings will also be constructed with the M-type…

Scorpio Bulkers Inc. has reached agreements with three yards in China to construct a minimum of 11 and up to 14 dry bulk carrier newbuildings. Scorpio Bulkers is a newly established company listed on the Norwegian OTC with offices in Monaco and New York. They have reached agreements with ChengXi Shipyard CO. Ltd. Dalian, COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co. Ltd., and Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co. Ltd. for the construction of the vessels for approximately $27 million each. The vessels are from 61,000 to 64,000 DWT designed for the carriage of dry bulk commodities.

Teekay LNG Partners signs two, 5-year time-charter contracts with Cheniere Marketing to provide Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) transportation services. The fixed-rate time-charter contracts will be serviced by the two 173,400 cubic meter LNG carrier newbuildings ordered by Teekay LNG in December 2012. The newbuildings are currently under construction by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering of South Korea and are scheduled to be delivered in the first half of 2016. These new ships will be constructed with M-type, Electronically Controlled, Gas Injection (MEGI) twin engines, which are designed to be significantly more fuel-efficient and have lower emission levels than other engines currently being used in LNG shipping.

Classification society ClassNK announced it will soon open more than five new offices in Europe. The announcement was made during a press conference held during the Nor-Shipping 2013 exhibition, and was highlighted by a special signing ceremony which saw four renowned Northern European owners officially transfer nearly a dozen vessels to ClassNK. The new expansion which includes new offices already established in Klaipeda, Lithuania, and Ebeltoft, Denmark will see ClassNK open new offices in Bergen…