A subsidiary of Bermuda-based LNG carrier owner Flex LNG has entered into a long-term charter contract with Clearlake Shipping, part of Gunvor Group, for an LNG carrier newbuilding.
As informed, the period under the time charter is up to ten years where the first five years are firm.
The charter will commence following the delivery of the ship scheduled for August 2020. It will have elements of variable rate of hire across the charter period, Flex LNG said.
The 173,400 cbm vessel to be employed under this time charter will be the hull 2479, which is being built at South Korean Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME). Fitted with a high-pressure two-stroke slow-speed propulsion system (ME-GI), the vessel is also equipped with a full reliquifaction system (FRS) enabling a high level of operational flexibility given the low boil-off rate of 0.035% per day.
The 96,000 dwt vessel will be named as Flex Artemis and will fly the flag of the Marshall Islands.
“We are very pleased to enter into this long-term charter with … Gunvor which has been the most active LNGC spot trader in the burgeoning LNG trade. We are confident that our vessel will be very suitable for their trade given the very high technical specification of this vessel. This charter is also in line with our strategy of delivering incremental higher level of backlog as we are growing our fleet of vessels on the water,” Øystein M. Kalleklev, Chief Executive Officer of Flex LNG Management AS, commented.
Flex LNG currently has six vessels on the water and an additional seven newbuildings under construction, which are planned for delivery between the second quarter of 2020 and the second quarter of 2021.