Newcastlemax owner Himalaya Shipping has fixed another four of its LNG dual-fuel vessels on long-term time charters.
Singapore-based commodity trader Koch Shipping has booked the four bulkers on 24-month contracts, which will start when the vessels are delivered from China’s New Times Shipbuilding in the second and third quarter of 2023.
The contracts include “certain options” to start two charters in 2024, the Oslo-listed shipowner said on Monday.
The charters have been fixed at an undisclosed index-linked rate that Himalaya said reflects a “significant premium” to the Baltic Exchange’s 5TC index, the weighted average of spot rates as assessed across five key capesize routes.
The contracts also include a share of profits from any economic benefits gained from the vessels’ scrubbers or the use of LNG marine fuel.
The deal also includes options to convert the charters to fixed-rate employment, based on the prevailing forward curve.
Herman Billing, the contracted chief executive of Himalaya, said the new deals mean six of the shipowner’s 12 vessels now have term employment lined up for when they are delivered.
“The reception for the vessels in the market has been above expectations,” he said on Monday.
“Our simple structure, with index-linked charters earning a significant premium, low G&A [general and administrative] cost and financing with seven-year fixed bareboat rates put us in a good position to deliver solid returns to our shareholders.”
Three of Himalaya’s vessels were fixed to an unnamed major commodity trader in early October.
Billung is also chief executive of 2020 Bulkers, a Norwegian newcastlemax owner established by Tor Olav Troim, much like Himalaya, is overseeing technical management of the Himalaya fleet while it is under construction.
Himalaya decided in August to fit scrubbers to the fleet, without any slippage of delivery dates.
