Frontline sells eight VLGCs to Avance

The acquisition was first discussed when Frontline 2012 took an equal share in AGHL along with Sungas Holdings and Stolt-Nielsen, and creates the third largest pure-play VLGC owner operator with six vessels trading and an orderbook of eight vessels.

The vessels will be delivered to AGHL straight from Jiangnan Changxing Shipyard between August 2014 and September 2015.

AGHL will pay $75m for each ship, $17.4m upfront and $57.6m upon delivery.

"The board is very pleased with the sale, which is the first step in streamlining the activities of the company by breaking the company up in several new companies and creating pure plays in different shipping segments through consolidation, divestment and spin offs," Frontline 2012 commented in a release today.