Bonny Gas Transport, a subsidiary of the Nigerian LNG Limited, has finalised a ship-building contract with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries and Hyundai.
The Acting General Manager, External Relations, Dr. Kudo Eresia-Eke, in a statement on Wednesday, said the deal was sealed in London on Tuesday, adding that it involved the construction of six new vessels at $1.6n.
“The six vessels, four from Samsung and two from Hyundai, which have a combined capacity of 1,053, 000 cubic metres, will increase BGT’s overall shipping capacity by 17 per cent,” Eresia-Eke said.
“The new ships which will replace BGT’s six oldest vessels were ordered through retained earnings from BGT, additional borrowings from an existing facility and new vessels debt provided by a combination of Korean Export Credit Agencies, international, regional and local commercial banks,” he added.
He said the tankers would be delivered over a period of nine months from October 2015 to June 2016.
The deal, according to him, entails BGT supporting more development of Nigerian content through the utilisation of local manpower, services and materials in all elements of the value chain in support of LNG’s commitment to increased local productivity.
This, he said, was in advancement of government’s aspiration to increase the country’s participation in the maintenance and repair of large ocean-going vessels.
BGT was established in 1989 to provide shipping capacity for NLNG projects. It directly owns 13 of the 24 vessels which deliver liquefied natural gas for Nigeria LNG to customers across the world. The remaining 11 vessels are owned via long-term leases.
The PUNCH had last Friday reported that the NLNG was seeking a loan to acquire new vessels; adding that France’s BNP Paribas and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc were brokering the $1.6m loan to help fund the acquisition of the vessels.
A bank industry source had hinted that the loan would be medium-to-long term, with the deal expected to be sealed by the end of March.
NLNG, which is jointly owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and Royal Dutch Shell, said last year it would seek international loans to expand the operations of its shipping subsidiary, Bonny Gas Transport Limited, which has 24 LNG ships.
NLNG was set up more than two decades ago to harness Nigeria’s natural gas resources and produce liquefied natural gas and natural gas liquids for export.