- Kumiai Navigation has expanded its fleet with a new order from Kawasaki Heavy Industries for a dual-fuel VLGC/ammonia gas carrier, secured under a charter from a Canadian energy infrastructure company.
- This latest agreement increases Kumiai’s order tally for this vessel type at the Japanese shipyard to four.
Singapore’s Kumiai Navigation has returned to Kawasaki Heavy Industries to order a dual-fuel VLGC/ammonia gas carrier newbuilding against a charter from a Canadian energy infrastructure company.
Fleet expansion
Managing Director Tomomaru Kuroyanagi confirmed that the 86,700-cubic-meter ship, identified as Hull No 1770, has been contracted under a minimum seven-year time charter to AltaGas. This marks the second dual-fuel VLGC that Kumiai has ordered for AltaGas, with the first scheduled for delivery in April 2026, also under a seven-year charter.
In recent developments, Abu Dhabi’s Adnoc Logistics & Services reportedly commissioned China’s Jiangnan Shipyard to construct four 93,000-cubic-meter LPG dual-fuel ammonia carriers at approximately $120 million each. In April, Japan’s Iino Kaiun contracted South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean for a single dual-fuel VLGC costing $127 million under a charter with chemical player Borealis.
Delivery of Kumiai’s latest VLGC is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026, with AltaGas intending to utilize the vessel for exporting LPG from western Canada to the Far East and Asia. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is on track to deliver two additional newbuildings for Kumiai in February and June 2025, with charterers including commodity giant Trafigura and Dubai’s BGN International.
The LPG carrier market has shown resilience this year, with 37 units totaling 2.6 million cubic meters contracted in the first quarter, marking the highest quarter since Q2 2021 and a 37% year-on-year increase in capacity on an annualized basis.
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Source: Kumiai Navigation
