Navigator Holdings (Navigator Gas), a UK-based owner and operator of the ‘world’s largest fleet of Handysize liquefied gas carriers’, has ordered two 48,500 cbm liquefied ethylene gas carriers (LEGCs) in China.
As informed, the company has entered into shipbuilding contracts with Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) and China Shipbuilding Trading, paying an average price of $102.9 million per vessel.
Navigator Gas has also agreed an option with the shipbuilders for an additional two newbuilding vessels of the same specification and price as the first two units, with expected delivery to the company in November 2027 and January 2028, respectively, if the option is exercised.
The newbuilds are scheduled to be delivered to the company in March 2027 and July 2027 respectively.
The vessels will be able to carry a wide variety of gas products, ranging from the most complex petrochemical gases, such as ethylene and ethane, to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and clean ammonia. They will be fitted with dual-fuel engines for ethane, a low-carbon intensity transitional fuel, and made retrofit-ready for using ammonia as a fuel in the near future .
Additionally, the LEGCs will be capable of transiting through both the former and the new Panama Canal locks, providing enhanced flexibility.
“Building these vessels strengthens the link between our ethylene export terminal at Morgan’s Point and our global customers. They enable us to maintain a safe, efficient, and reliable ethylene transportation capability that is both competitive and future-ready, using assets adapted to the low carbon fuel landscape,” Mads Peter Zacho , CEO, commented.
The company said it does not intend to issue any new capital but plans to finance the newbuild vessels with a combination of cash on hand and new debt.
Neither of the newly ordered ships is currently chartered, but the company intends to fix charters prior to their delivery.
Earlier this month, Navigator Gas entered into an up to $147.6 million secured term loan and revolving credit facility with Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, ING Bank and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken to fund the repurchase of the Navigator Aurora vessel and for general corporate and working capital purposes.
In early August, the company also unveiled a co-investment in the clean ammonia developet Ten08 Energy, which is developing an industrial-scale hybrid blue and green ammonia production export facility on the Gulf Coast of Texas with the goal of producing ‘the most competitively priced’ ammonia molecule to help decarbonize the power, shipping, fertilizer, and chemicals industries.