Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) has signed two additional contracts with Stolt-Nielsen Limited, following the exercise of options to build two additional small-scale LNG carriers.
The deal, signed through the companies’ subsidiaries Keppel Singmarine and Stolt-Nielsen Gas, is worth a total of around SGD 105 million (USD 75.9 million).
Three options were granted to Stolt-Nielsen Gas as part of the original contract signed in May 2017 between Keppel Singmarine and Stolt-Nielsen Gas to build two LNG carriers. The first option lapsed in November 2017, while the second and third options have now been exercised by Stolt-Nielsen Gas.
“These LNG carriers will be the 4th and 5th vessels capable of LNG bunkering as well as the 11th and 12th LNG powered vessels that Keppel will be building. We look forward to furthering this track record as the industry increasingly adopts LNG as a marine fuel,” Abu Bakar , Managing Director (Gas & Specialised Vessels), Keppel O&M, said.
Similar to its preceding two units, the two LNG carriers will each have a capacity of 7,500m3, and come equipped with engines that can run on both diesel and LNG. To be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021 respectively, the carriers will have a class notation for bunkering which enables the provision of LNG bunkering services if required, Keppel O&M explained.