Bermuda-based ship owner and charterer SFL Corporation Ltd. has ordered two new dual-fuel7,000 CEUcar carriers that will be chartered out to an unnamed European automobile manufacturer.
SFL said it entered into anagreement with the car manufacturer to charter the vessel pair for a 10-year period fromdelivery in 2023.
The contract is on a time-charter basis, anduntil the new vessels aredelivered,the client will charterSFL’s twoexistingcar carriers,SFL ComposerandSFL Conductor.
Concurrently, SFL said it has agreed to construct the two newbuild vessels at a leading shipyard in China, subject to final documentation.
“Thetransaction is estimated to addmore than$200million in fixed-ratecharter backlog,andwe are adding…vessels designed to use liquefied natural gas (LNG)to our fleet. In addition, we intend tocooperate with our customer to useeco-friendlybio-fuelfor the propulsion of the two existing vessels,” according to SFL.
“We are extremely honoured to be selectedbyan…automobile manufacturer withclearenvironmental ambitions.This transaction shows our commitment toinvest inassets with lower carbon footprintand alsohow we can improveperformance ofexisting vesselsthrough the use of alternative fuels, in line with our ESG strategy,” Ole B. Hjertaker, CEO of SFL Management, commented.
“Over the last 10 years, SFL’s fleet has transitioned from predominately oil production and transportationassets, to mainlyconsisting ofcontainershipsand dry bulk vesselstoday.Including this new transaction, our fixed-rate charter backlog from shipping assets will bemore than$2.4billion.”
SFL has a fleet of more than 80 vessels which is split between tankers, bulkers, container vessels and offshore drilling rigs.
