London-based small-scale player Avenir LNG, a joint venture consisting of Stolt-Nielsen, Hoegh and Golar, has taken delivery of the second 7,500-cbm newbuild from Keppel Offshore & Marine’s Nantong yard.
The dual-purpose LNG bunkering and supply vessel Avenir Accolade should now leave China to go towards Brazil.
Following arrival in South America’s largest country, the newbuild will start transporting chilled fuel for Golar’s JV Hygo Energy, soon to become part of New Fortress Energy.
On delivery, the Avenir Accolade will enter a three-year bareboat charter to LNG Power, a unit of Hygo.
Accolade’s positioning marks Avenir’s first entry into the Latin American LNG market.
Delivering LNG to Hygo’s customers along the Brazilian coastline and fitted with specialised handling equipment, the vessel will be capable of unloading directly into trucks for onward distribution across Brazil, Avenir said.
The vessel is a sister ship to Avenir Advantage that already works in Malaysia as part of a charter deal with a unit for Petronas.
Both of the vessels are 123.4 meters long and feature dual-fueled propulsion and type C tanks. They have a price tag of about $40 million, each.
Besides these two ships, Avenir has similar 7,500-cbm carriers on order at the Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering yard in China.
These two vessels will join Avenir’s fleet during the course of this year.
The Chinese yard also has a contract with Avenir LNG for the construction of two 20,000-cbm LNG carriers with delivery dates also scheduled for 2021. Avenir says these vessels are the world’s largest LNG bunkering ships.
In addition, Avenir will also soon officially become an LNG terminal operator. The firm has an 80 percent stake in a small-scale facility in Sardinia expected to start operations soon.