Golar LNG Limited announced that it has executed a time charter for one of its modern LNG carriers, the Golar Arctic, to a major Japanese trading company for a firm period of 3 years.
The charter is expected to commence in March 2012 following the end of the vessel’s current charter. The annualised EBITDA contribution from the commencement of this new charter is expected to be approximately $45 million, which represents attractive returns for shareholders and is a positive indicator of the current market for LNG shipping.
Golar’s Chairman, John Fredriksen said in a comment “The limited availability of LNG shipping in the market is creating excellent chartering opportunities for our open vessel positions. We anticipate that the market will remain strong for some time to come and therefore we are extremely optimistic about the on-going performance of the existing fleet and our investment in newbuild carriers. Golar has multiple open positions extending from present out into 2014 which creates a solid basis for aggressive future growth of our Company.”
[mappress]
World Maritime News Staff, January 13, 2012