Russia’s shipping firm Sovcomflot will charter a recently ordered 174,000 cbm LNG newbuild to French energy giant Total for a period of up to seven years.
In addition, the deal comes with options for up to two additional vessels.
To remind, KSOE said earlier this month that its unit Hyundai Samho would build a 174,000 cbm vessel with a price tag of about 198.9 billion won ($181 million) for a Liberia-based owner. Most of Sovcomflot vessels operate under the Liberian registry.
Sovcomflot said in a statement it signed the charter contract for the vessel with Total on Thursday.
The new vessel will be the latest in a series of Sovcomflot’s new-generation conventional Atlanticmax LNG carriers, with three sister ships already in operation: SCF La Perouse, SCF Barents and SCF Timmerman.
The lead vessel of the series, SCF La Perouse, joined Sovcomflot’s fleet in February 2020 and works for Total as well while the other two ships serve Shell.
Like its sister vessels, the newbuild will feature GTT’s Mark III Flex cargo containment system and WinGD slow-speed dual-fuel X-DF engine.
Moreover, the vessel will have a boil-off gas partial re-liquefaction system, which “significantly” reduces cargo losses while on long voyages or awaiting cargo operations, Sovcomflot said.
Sovmcoflot expects to deliver the newbuild to Total in the third quarter of 2023.
