Greek shipowner acquires LNGC trio
Greek shipowner Capital Product Partners L.P. (CPLP) said on August 31 it had acquired three 174,000-m3 X-DF LNG carriers from CGC Operating Corp. for nearly $600mn.
The vessels, built at South Korea's Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard, are Aristos I, completed in 2020 and Aristarchos and Aristidis I, completed in 2021. CPP is due to receive Aristos I and Aristarchos by September 15 and Aristidis I by the end of November. The first two are used by BP Gas Marketing under long-term charter deals, while the third is chartered to US firm Cheniere Marketing International.
CPLP has also secured an option to acquire three more LNG carriers at an average cost of $208mn per vessel. These tankers were all built this year and are chartered to BP, Cheniere and French-owned Engie Energy Marketing Singapore.
CPLP CEO Jerry Kalogiratos welcomed the acquisitions, which he said came at a time when "the LNG market is exhibiting strong long-term fundamentals."