Euronav has entered into an agreement to acquire two resale suezmax newbuildings that will be able to run on LNG and even ammonia in future.
The resale contracts are acquired by Euronav at an en-bloc price of $113m. The pair of eco-suezmaxes are currently under construction at South Korea’s Daehan Shipyard and scheduled for delivery in January 2022.
“The current disruptions to the freight market have provided this opportunity and our strong balance sheet allowed us to act quickly on it. This is in line with our strategy of acquiring good assets at attractive points in the cycle,” said Hugo De Stoop, CEO of Euronav.
The new-generation ships will be fitted with scrubbers and ballast water treatment systems, and will have the structural notation to be LNG-ready.
Euronav is also working with the shipyard to have the structural notation to be ammonia-ready. This will provide an option to switch to other fuels at a later stage.
New York-listed Euronav said that as the new vessels are resales, they are not adding to projected vessel supply as they were already under construction.
Source: Seatrade Maritime
