The 83,000 c um vessel is designed to be able to transit the expanded Panama Canal and is identical to two newbuildings ordered at the end of last year and in the spring of this year.
The vessel as with the previous two is to be built at MHI’s Nagasaki yard and scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2016, replacing one of the company’s older vessels. The price of the vessel was not disclosed.
Astomos Energy currently operates a fleet of 21 large LPG carriers, with all six owned vessels built at MHI and 10 out of 15 chartered in ships also built at the Japanese yard.
The company aims 12m tonnes of LPG in 2015, compared to 10m tonnes annually at present.
“With the emergence of the ‘shale gas revolution’ in the US, demand for LPG produced in North America is projected to increase in markets worldwide, including East Asia,” MHI said.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited. Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.
