Dynagas LNG Partners second-quarter profit up

Dynagas LNG Partners, a limited partnership formed by the Greek shipowner Dynagas, reported mixed results for the second quarter and first half of the year 2019. 

The partnership reported a net profit of $932,000 for the second quarter, up from $351,000 in the corresponding quarter last year. However, the report shows that the six-month net profit dropped from $5.2 million in 2018 to $2.8 million in the period under review.

The increase in net income in the second quarter was mainly due to the decrease in dry-dock and special survey costs. In the second quarter of 2019, no dry-dock and special survey expenditures were incurred whereas in the prior year’s second quarter, $2.2 million of dry-dock and special survey expenditures were incurred on the Arctic Aurora.

Dynagas LNG Partners CEO, Tony Lauritzen added that the partnership’s underlying charter business remains healthy with its fleet of six LNG carriers all contracted on charters to international gas producers with an average remaining contract term of 9.0 years.

The Lena River commenced employment under its long term charter with Yamal LNG on July 1, 2019. In order to deliver the Lena River into the new charter the vessel incurred a repositioning voyage which took about 30 days and which reduced the fleet’s utilization to about 94 percent.

“All of our six LNG carriers are now fully delivered and operating under their existing charters. The fleet’s earliest possible rechartering availability is in the third quarter of 2021, which is the earliest contracted re-delivery date for one of our six LNG carriers with the next earliest redelivery not before the first quarter of 2026,” Lauritzen said.

As of September 26, 2019, the partnership had estimated contracted time charter coverage for 100 percent of its fleet estimated available days for 2019, 100 percent of its fleet estimated available days for 2020 and 92 percent of its fleet estimated available days for 2021.