K Line signs term charter with Petronas LNG

Japanese shipping company K Line has ordered two new LNG carriers and signed a 12-year contract to charter them to Malaysia's Petronas.

The two vessels will be built by China's Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard for delivery in the second quarter of 2022, K Line said. The shipyard announced that it had received the order to build the two vessels last month but did not specify the shipowner involved in the deal.

Petronas will have the option to renew the charter for 12 years after the contract expires, K Lines said.

Each vessel will have a capacity of 79,900m³ and a draught of less than 9m, allowing passage through shallower inland waterways, Hudong-Zhonghua said. The vessels will also be able to pass through deeper bodies of water in southeast Asia, probably to transport LNG from Petronas' Sarawak-based 30mn t/yr Bintulu and floating 1.2mn t/yr PFLNG 1 liquefaction facilities.

Petronas may have signed the charter as part of an agreement announced in January with China's state-controlled Shenergy for 1.5mn t/yr of LNG for delivery to the small-scale Wuhaogou import terminal in Shanghai, which included collaboration on building and chartering new mid-size LNG carriers.

By Livia Gallarati