Nasdaq-listed Golar LNG Partners has reached an agreement to shorten the existing time charter of the Golar Freeze FSRU, that was due to end in May 2020.
The ship’s charterer, Dubai Supply Authority (DUSUP), and Golar agreed to shorten the charter by one year and to remove DUSUP’s termination for convenience rights and extension option rights which ran to 2024.
The parties opted for the move as DUSUP, which has two FSRUs on contract, informed that it does not have full time use for Golar Freeze. The companies have therefore been working to find alternative employment.
Golar Partners said that it will receive the right to terminate its obligations under the charter while continuing to receive the capital element of the charter until the end of the new charter period in April 2019.
Additionally, the operating cost element of the charter will be reduced to a nominal amount from November 2017 and Golar Partners will similarly save operating costs from putting the vessel into layup pending new employment.
“This arrangement gives both parties more certainty and enables Golar Partners to re-market the vessel” with the clear knowledge of its long term availability from 2018, according to Golar Partners.