"K" Line enters long-term time charter with construction of 2 LNG carriers
Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. ("K" Line) announces the signing of two long-term Time Charter contracts which have been concluded with a subsidiary of INPEX CORPORATION (INPEX) and with a joint venture of INPEX and French Oil Major TOTAL S.A. (TOTAL)'s subsidiaries. "K" Line has also executed Shipbuilding contracts with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) and Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. (KHI), respectively, said in the company's press release.
INPEX, TOTAL and other companies operate the Ichthys LNG Project (Ichthys Project) in Western Australia which is on track to produce its first gas by the end of 2016. Both vessels will engage in the transport of LNG from the Ichthys Project to Japan and Taiwan.
1. LNG Carrier for INPEX – serving Naoetsu, Japan
"K" Line and INPEX have formed a joint venture, Ocean Breeze LNG Transport S.A. (OBLT), with a stake of "K" Line 70% and INPEX 30%.
OBLT has signed a long-term Time Charter with INPEX Shipping Co., Ltd. (subsidiary of INPEX) and has also executed a Shipbuilding contract with MHI. This vessel will engage in the transport of LNG from Ichthys Project to INPEX's Naoetsu LNG Receiving Terminal in Niigata, Japan.
This vessel adopts “Sayaendo", a unique structure integrating LNG tank cover with vessel hull introduced by MHI, which enables the vessel to improve fuel consumption through vessel's weight reduction and hull line improvement.
2. LNG Carrier for INPEX/TOTAL – serving Taiwan
"K" Line has also signed a long-term Time Charter with IT Marine Transport Pte. Ltd., a joint venture of INPEX Shipping and a subsidiary of TOTAL, and has also executed a Shipbuilding contract with KHI. This vessel will engage in the transport of LNG from Ichthys LNG Project to CPC Corporation, Taiwan.
This vessel is the largest size of Moss-type LNG carriers newly designed and developed by KHI. This vessel is also the first Moss-type LNG carrier equipped with Duel Fuel Diesel Electric (DFD) propulsion system.
"K" Line has signed a long-term Time Charter contract for one vessel this April with Chubu Electric Power Co., Inc., thus it will be "K" Line's second and third LNG Carrier awarded so far in 2013.
As committed under "K" Line's mid-term management plan “Bridge to the Future," LNG transportation business will contribute to the long-term stable earning structure and "K" Line further aims to expand its LNG transportation business by utilizing its expertise and worldwide network developed over the past 30 years since the delivery of S.S. “Bishu Maru" in 1983, the first LNG carrier owned by any Japanese shipping company.
