Himalaya Shipping inks charter deals for LNG newbuilds

Bermuda-based bulk carrier company Himalaya Shipping has signed time charter agreements for two of its LNG dual-fuel vessels currently under construction at New Times Shipyard in China.

According to the company, the vessels will commence a two-year time charter with “an evergreen structure” upon delivery from the shipyard in the first half of 2024.

The vessels will earn an index-linked rate, reflecting a significant premium to the Baltic 5TC index, and a profit sharing of any economic benefit derived from operating the vessel’s scrubber or running on LNG, as well as certain rights to convert the time charters to fixed rates based on the prevailing FFA curve from time to time.

Himalaya Shipping has a total of twelve LNG dual-fuel 210,000 dwt Newcastlemax ships on order at Chinese NTS. The first two vessels, Mount Norefjell and Mount Ita, were delivered in March this year. Mount Etna, Mount Blanc and Mount Matterhorn followed suit in April, May and July, respectively.

The most recent delivery took place in September when Himalaya welcomed the sixth vessel, Mount Neblina. The next delivery is scheduled for January 2024.

In the meantime, the construction of the vessels is progressing at the Chinese shipyard where the seventh and eighth vessels in the series were launched on September 15, 2023.