Hoegh LNG has taken delivery of the 126,400-cbm LNG Libra (built 1979) from Mitsui OSK Lines-controlled BGT.
The 32-year-old vessel, which Hoegh bought last year for slightly over $50 million, has begun a six-month charter to Australia’s North West Shelf project.
Brokers have previously suggested the rate on the contract is in the $80,000 per-day range. Hoegh said last month it is hopeful of achieving a healthy rate for future charters.
The company is also due to exercise a purchase option on a more modern vessel, the 153,600-cbm LNG carrier STX Frontier (built 2010), by the end of the third quarter.
It plans to have both a mid to long-term charter and the ship’s finance in place before going ahead, however.
