Houston-based Eagle LNG Partners will use Anthony Veder’s 2010-built 10,000-cbm vessel, Coral Favia, for LNG supply and bunkering services in the Caribbean basin as part of a new charter deal revealed on Monday.
According to a joint statement, Eagle LNG took delivery of this multigas vessel from the Dutch shipping firm last week and this is the first of a planned fleet from Eagle offering LNG supply and bunker services for the Caribbean basin.
The arrival of the LNG supply vessel marks the beginning of a partnership between two long-time pioneers in the small-scale LNG bunkering and export industry, the statement said.
The partnership between Eagle LNG and Anthony Veder will allow for flexibility in ownership, chartering, and operation of the various LNG assets as the LNG bunker market develops, the two firms said.
A spokeswoman for Eagle told LNG Prime that the company has chartered Coral Favia from Anthony Veder, but she did not provide the duration of the agreement.
“Next logical step”
Anthony Veder’s CEO, Jan Valkier, said Anthony Veder has “watched Eagle LNG’s accomplishments with great interest over the past few years and looks forward to bringing our innovations and LNG shipping knowledge for further growth in the Caribbean and other markets.”
“After nearly a decade of pioneering small-scale LNG solutions including pipe-to-ship LNG bunkering, Eagle LNG is excited for this next logical step in expanding its LNG supply solutions portfolio,” Eagle LNG’s president Sean Lalani said.
“Having multiple new projects coming on-stream in the next several months, Eagle LNG is poised for exponential growth and the addition of this new LNG supply and bunkering capability enhances Eagle LNG’s core value proposition of an assured, secure supply chain bringing cost savings and energy transition solutions to our customers,” Lalani said.
Last year, Eagle LNG, owned by private equity firm Energy & Minerals Group, signed a deal to supply LNG to Royal Caribbean Group’s LNG-powered cruise ships.
As part of the deal with Royal Caribbean, Eagle LNG said it will debut “multiple purpose-built LNG vessels” equipped for marine bunkering and gas delivery throughout the Caribbean.
Eagle LNG said at the time that it will start bunkering the first ship, Icon of the Seas, in 2023.
Finland’s Meyer Turku yard is building this vessel for Royal Caribbean International, a unit of Royal Caribbean, along with two other sister ships.
Besides these vessels, Royal Caribbean International has also LNG-powered Utopia of the Seas under construction at French shipbuilder Chantiers de l’Atlantique.
Coral Favia arrived in Lithuania from Germany
According to Coral Favia’s AIS data provided by VesselsValue, the vessel was on Tuesday located at a yard in Klaipeda, Lithuania.
“The vessel is being specially outfitted for service early next year,” Eagle LNG’s spokeswoman said.
She added that Eagle LNG expects the vessel to depart to the Caribbean basin in December.
Coral Favia arrived in Klaipeda from Germany, where it was employed to serve the FSRU-based LNG import terminal in Lubmin, operated by Deutsche ReGas.
Deutsche ReGas officially launched the FSRU-based LNG import terminal in January.
The German firm chartered three small LNG carriers, including Coral Favia, from Anthony Veder to transport LNG from the project’s FSU to the FSRU due to draft restrictions in Lubmin.
Anthony Veder also became a minority shareholder in the company.
However, Deutsche ReGas will move the 2009-built 145,000-cbm, FSRU Neptune, which it chartered from TotalEnergies, to the German port of Mukran on the island of Rügen.
Neptune will serve the planned Mukran LNG import facility along with the 174,000-cbm FSRU Transgas Power, owned by Dynagas.
Antonhy Veder’s Coral Furcata and Coral Fraseri are still serving the FSRU in Lubmin, their AIS data shows.
A spokeswoman for Anthony Veder told LNG Prime that the ships Coral Fraseri and Coral Furcata “remain working for the DRG project.”
Anthony Veder’s spokeswoman said that the company “can’t share any information regarding the DRG contract.”
She also said that the company expects to start LNG bunkering operations with Coral Favia in 2024.