Mitsui Procuring 8 LNG Vessels
President and CEO, Masami Iijima of Mitsui & Co., Ltd. informed that the compnay is currently proceeding with the procurement of eight LNG ships intended to be used for the delivery of LNG mainly to its customers in Japan from the Cameron LNG Export Project in the U.S.A.
On September 26, 2014, Mitsui signed time charter parties for five of the above eight ships for a total maximum charter hire amount of approximately 400 billion Japanese yen. Additionally, Mitsui is preparing to conclude time charter parties for the remaining 3 ships.
Three of the above eight ships originate from ship-owning companies in which Mitsui invests, bringing Mitsui's LNG ship fleet, all ships in which are jointly owned by partners, to a total of twenty-seven ships. Mitsui will strengthen and expand its LNG ship business by transporting LNG from its own and third party LNG project sites all over the world and by accumulating knowledge on owning, chartering and operating LNG ships.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) has signed a contract with Mitsui to charter two new 155,000m3 LNG carriers. The charter period will start around 2018 and will last up to 25 years. The LNG carriers will feature about 300 m in length, 48.9m in breadth and will have cargo tank capacity of 155,000m3. The builder of the said vessels is Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KWHIY).
By exercising its functions, and knowledge in a variety of fields, Mitsui will demonstrate its comprehensive business capabilities and continue to expand its participation in all aspects of the natural gas and LNG value chain, from upstream development and production of natural resources to midstream and downstream businesses.
