China Development Bank Financial Leasing (CDB Leasing) continues to add LNG capacity to its fleet following a sale and leaseback agreement with Dynagas LNG Partners.

The US-listed, George Prokopiou-backed shipowner sold four vessels to the Hong Kong-listed lessor for a total consideration of $477.5 million, according to a regulatory filing.

China’s CDB Leasing confirms agreement to sell and lease back two Awilco LNG vessels

These are the Clean Energy (149,700 cu m), Ob River (both built in 2007), Amur River (built in 2008) and Arctic Aurora (155,000 cu m) (built in 2013).

The first three ships are all steam-powered, while the fourth ship has a triple diesel-electric propulsion system (TFDE).

Dynagas LNG Partners has agreed to take back the four vessels on leases of between five and 10 years, according to CDB Leasing.

The Chinese lessor said the lease rate consists of the lease principal and lease interest, of which the lease principal will be the same amount it paid for the vessels – $477.5 million. The total amount of lease interest is expected to be approximately $130 million.

CDB Leasing said that the lease principal and lease interest will be paid by lessees through quarterly installments over the lease term.

Dynagas LNG Partners has the option to buy back the vessels for a total amount of $95 million at the end of the lease period, CDB Leasing said.

Early last January, in a stunning move, it sold its two state-of-the-art floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) to Energos Infrastructure.

According to shipping company estimates, this transaction will generate revenues of around $1 billion for the Greek shipowner.

The two ships, built in 2021, are long-term charters in Germany to cover about 25% of the country’s gas losses following sanctions imposed on Russia over its war in Ukraine.

Energos

The two closed-circuit vessels with a capacity of 174,000 cu m will be renamed Energos Force and Energos Power. Energos Force is planned to operate at the port of Stade on behalf of Deutsche Energy Terminals, while Energos Power is planned to operate at the port of Mukran on behalf of Deutsche Regas.

With the addition of these two high-end liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification vessels to its platform, Energos will own and operate 13 LNG vessels, consisting of nine FSRUs, two floating storage units and two LNG carriers.

Reliable energy infrastructure is essential to address the global energy crisis and reduce carbon emissions,” said Arthur Regan, CEO of Energos Infrastructure.

For his part, Prokopiou has run a very large shipbuilding programme over the last two years, for a total of 68 vessels. Of these, 14 are LNG carriers, of which he has already taken delivery of two. In addition, the active fleet of the two group companies (Dynagas and Dynagas Partners) amounts to 25 LNG carriers.

Investments in LNG carriers have multiplied in recent years, with Greek shipowners leading the way. The demand for LNG is constantly increasing, a trend that is expected to continue in the coming years.