Navigator Holdings (Navigator Gas), a UK-based owner and operator of the “world’s largest fleet of handysize liquefied natural gas carriers”, has ordered two 48,500 cbm liquid ethylene gas carriers (LEGCs) in China.
It was announced that the company has signed shipbuilding contracts with Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) and China Shipbuilding Trading, paying an average price of $102.9 million per vessel.
Navigator Gas has also agreed an option with the shipbuilders for two additional newbuild vessels with the same specification and at the same price as the first two units, which are expected to be delivered to the Company in November 2027 and January 2028 respectively if the option is exercised.
The new ships are scheduled to be delivered to the company in March 2027 and July 2027 respectively.
The vessels can transport a wide range of gas products, from highly complex petrochemical gases such as ethylene and ethane to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and clean ammonia. They will be equipped with dual-fuel engines for ethane, a low-carbon transition fuel, and can be retrofitted to use ammonia as fuel in the near future..
In addition, the LEGCs can pass through both the old and the new locks of the Panama Canal, which provides greater flexibility.
“The construction of these vessels strengthens the connection between our ethylene export terminal at Morgan’s Point and our global customers. They enable us to maintain a safe, efficient and reliable ethylene transport capacity that is both competitive and future-proof by utilizing facilities adapted to the low-carbon fuel landscape,” Mads Peter ZachoCEO, commented.
The company said it does not intend to issue new capital but plans to finance the new vessels through a combination of cash and new debt.
None of the newly ordered vessels are currently chartered, but the Company intends to enter into charter agreements prior to delivery.
Earlier this month, Navigator Gas entered into a secured term loan and revolving credit facility of up to US$147.6 million with Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank, ING Bank and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken to finance the repurchase of the vessel Navigator Aurora and for general corporate and working capital purposes.
In early August, the company also announced a co-investment in clean ammonia developer Ten08 Energy. The company is developing a hybrid export facility for the industrial-scale production and export of blue and green ammonia on the Texas Gulf Coast with the goal of producing the “lowest cost” ammonia molecule and thus contributing to the decarbonization of the energy, shipping, fertilizer and chemical industries.
