Teekay in Yemen LNG charter payment deferral, says to take delivery of third MEGI tanker soon

MEGI LNG tanker Torben Spirit (Image: Teekay LNG)

Teekay LNG, one of the world’s largest operators of liquefied natural gas tankers, said Thursday its joint venture with Marubeni has agreed to a further deferral of the charter payments for the two LNG carriers serving the closed Yemen liquefaction plant.

Teekay LNG owns a 52 percent interest in the LNG carriers, the Marib Spirit and Arwa Spirit, through the JV, which vessels currently are on long-term charters expiring in 2029 to the Total-led Yemen LNG project.

Due to the political situation in Yemen, YLNG decided to close down the LNG plant in 2015.

As a result of a possible extended plant closure, the JV agreed to a “temporary deferral of a significant portion of the charter payments” for the two LNG carriers during 2016.

At the end of 2016, the Yemen LNG plant had remained closed and as a result, in January 2017, the JV had agreed to a further deferral during this year, Teekay LNG said in its full-year results report.

During this deferral period, the JV is entitled to trade the Marib Spirit and Awra Spirit for its own account.

Delivery of Torben Spirit

The Bermuda-based LNG shipper also said it would take delivery of its M-type, Electronically Controlled, Gas Injection (MEGI) LNG carrier, the Torben Spirit, at the end of February.

The 173,000-cbm Torben Spirit is Teekay’s third of seven LNG vessels with MEGI engines to be built at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea. Teekay has also two additional MEGI LNG newbuilds on order at the Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard.

Once delivered, the newest MEGI LNG carrier will start a short-term charter contract with a major energy company, according to Teekay.

The company has already taken delivery of two MEGI LNG carriers, the Creole Spirit and the Oak Spirit, with both vessels already in service under a five-year charter agreement with US LNG export player Cheniere Energy.

Income drops

Revealing the company’s financial results, Teekay LNG said its adjusted net income in fourth quarter of last year was at $29 million. This compares to $39.5 million in the same quarter the year before.

For the full-year of 2016, Teekay LNG report an adjusted net income of $148.9 million, down from $160 million the year before.

 

LNG World News Staff