Pertamina Aims to Add Six VLGCs in 2024

Pertamina International Shipping (PIS), a unit of Indonesian state energy company Pertamina, said on Wednesday it plans to add six new very large gas carriers (VLGC) in 2024 as it eyes fleet expansion focused on gas transport.

The company this week launched two VLGCs, built by South Korea's Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries, and each vessel has a 91,000 cubic metres capacity, which PIS said is among the biggest in the world.

The two vessels were designed to transport liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as well as ammonia, PIS said in a statement.

"We plan to add six VLGCs in 2024, starting from the two VLGCs at the start of the year, which will strengthen PIS's position in the world's LPG transportation business," said Chief Executive Yoki Firnandi.

PIS partnered with Dubai-based LPG trader BGN International to acquire the two new vessels.

A company official in 2022 said PIS will invest up to $3 billion over a five-year period to rejuvenate and expand its fleet, including investing in vessels to transport liquefied gas.

(Reuters - Reporting by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by Eileen Soreng)