Himalaya Shipping has secured a new charter deal for one of its LNG-powered Newcastlemax bulk carriers.
According to Himalaya, Mount Norefjell will start a 14 to 38-month time charter, following the planned redelivery from its current charterer in late February 2025.
Himalaya did not reveal the name of the bulk carrier charterer.
The vessel will earn an index-linked rate, reflecting a premium to the Baltic 5TC index that is higher than the average premium on Himalaya’s current charters of 42.25 percent.
Himalaya said the time charter also includes 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 charter to fixed rates based on the prevailing FFA curve from time to time.
Following this deal, Tor Olav Trøim’s Himalaya will have 12 vessels trading on index-linked time charters.
The company has 12 LNG-powered Newcastlemax bulk carriers in its fleet.
In June 2024, China’s New Times delivered Himalaya’s final bulk carrier, Mount Emai.
Himalaya achieved average time charter equivalent (TCE) earnings of about $17,900 per day, gross, last month.
This includes average daily scrubber and LNG benefits on eleven vessels of about U$2,100 per day.
The Company’s one vessel trading on a fixed-time charter earned about $30,000 per day, gross, while its eleven vessels trading on index-linked time charters earned $16,700 per day, gross, including average daily scrubber and LNG benefits.
Himalaya said the Baltic 5TC Capesize Index averaged $10,150 during the last month.
The company’s board has approved a cash distribution of $0.005 per share for January.