Tor Olav Trøim’s Himalaya Shipping has secured charter deals for four LNG-powered Newcastlemax bulk carriers it ordered at China’s New Times Shipyard.
According to a Himalaya statement released on Monday, Koch Shipping chartered the LNG-powered vessels.
The vessels would start a 24-month charter with an evergreen structure upon delivery from New Times Shipyard in the second and third quarter of 2023, with certain options to roll two charters to 2024, Himalaya said.
Also, the vessels would earn an index-linked rate, reflecting a significant premium to the Baltic 5TC index, and a profit sharing of any economic benefit derived from operating the vessel’s scrubber or running on LNG, as well as certain rights to convert the time charters to fixed rates based on the prevailing FFA curve from time to time, it said.
Half of the fleet chartered
With these deals, Himalaya now chartered six out of the twelve 208,000-dwt LNG dual-fuel bulk carriers following recent contracts for the first two vessels with “one of the major commodity companies”.
“We have now chartered out six vessels on index-linked charters with our vessels achieving market high premium to the Baltic 5TC index,” Herman Billung, contracted CEO of Himalaya said in the statement.
“The reception for the vessels in the market has been above expectations. Our simple structure, with index linked charters earning a significant premium, low G&A cost and financing with 7 year fixed bareboat rates puts us in a good position to deliver solid returns to our shareholders,” he said.
Earlier this year, Himalaya said it had completed financing for the twelve LNG dual-fuel bulk carriers.
Himalaya plans to take delivery of the 300 meters long ships in the period spanning from April 2023 until October 2024.
The sister ships will feature MAN ME-GI propulsion but also two type C LNG tanks with a total capacity of about 7,500 cbm.