Greek shipping firm Capital Gas, led by Evangelos Marinakis, has reportedly purchased a 2002-built liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier with a steam turbine propulsion.
VesselsValue data suggests Capital Gas bought the 138,000-cbm LNG carrier Trader, previously known as British Trader, from UK-based Lloyds Banking Group in September.
According to the data, Capital paid about $33 million for the 20-year-old vessel.
The vessel is on a charter to a Chinese firm, the data shows.
This marks the first purchase of a secondhand LNG carrier for Capital Gas and it comes at a right time as the LNG shipping market logs record prices.
Last month, LNG freight spot rates for TFDE vessels in both basins rose above $400,000 per day as spot vessel availability remained extremely tight mostly due to very high demand in Europe.
In September last year, Capital Gas took delivery of the sixth newbuild LNG carrier, Asklipios, chartered by Cheniere.
New York-listed Capital Product Partners bought all of these six LNG carriers as well as the 174,000-cbm, Asterix I, scheduled for delivery in January 2023.
Besides these seven LNG carriers, Capital Gas has seven more vessels on order in South Korea scheduled for delivery between 2023 and 2026, according to its website.
Including this new vessel, the company’s fleet now counts fifteen LNG carriers.