Navigator Holdings Ltd., the owner and operator of the world’s largest fleet of handysize liquefied gas carriers, has announced the third and fourth vessel acquisitions under its 60/40 joint venture with Greater Bay Gas Co. Ltd. (Liberia) (“Greater Bay Gas”), previously announced on September 30, 2022. The Joint Venture announced the purchase of the first and second of five vessels on December 20, 2022 and January 17, 2023, respectively.
The vessels, renamed Navigator Castor and Navigator Equator, were delivered on March 23 and March 27, 2023 respectively. Both vessels are 22,000 cbm liquefied ethylene gas carriers built in 2019. The final 22,000 cbm vessel is expected to be purchased by the Joint Venture in the coming weeks.
As previously announced, all five vessels will continue to be commercially managed under the Luna Pool collaboration arrangement, and technical management will be provided by the third-party technical manager, PG Shipmanagement Pte. Ltd. of Singapore.
Greater Bay Gas is a gaseous product logistic service provider based in the heart of the Shenzhen Greater Bay Area, China. It currently operates the fleet of five modern semi-pressurized and semi-refrigerated ethylene and ethane gas carriers that are expected to be acquired by the Joint Venture. It aims to develop its core business through global strategic partnerships to serve increasing demand for shipping and related logistics of gaseous product worldwide.
Greater Bay Gas Co. Ltd. (HK) was founded primarily by Equator Fund Limited, which is a maritime-focused fund, having its headquarters in the Municipality of Shenzhen, with offices in Hong Kong and Shanghai, China.
Navigator Holdings Ltd. is the owner and operator of the world’s largest fleet of handysize liquefied gas carriers and a global leader in the seaborne transportation services of petrochemical gases, such as ethylene and ethane, liquefied petroleum gas (“LPG”) and ammonia and owns a 50% share, through a joint venture, in an ethylene export marine terminal at Morgan’s Point, Texas on the Houston Ship Channel, USA. Navigator’s fleet now consists of 56 semi- or fully-refrigerated liquefied gas carriers, 25 of which are ethylene and ethane capable.