Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary, Diamond Gas International Pte. Ltd., entered into a Heads of Agreement of Time Charter Party for two LNG carriers with Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) on April 30, 2015. MC has been working to secure carriers to transport LNG produced at its Cameron LNG Project in the U.S.A. for sale to Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) starting from around 2018. NYK also signed shipbuilding contracts for two LNG carriers with MI LNG Company Limited (MI LNG)¹ on the same date. Once completed, the vessels will be utilized for these two time charters.   

 

Summary of Heads of Agreement of Time Charter Party

Charterer	Diamond Gas International Pte. Ltd. (MC’s Singapore subsidiary for marketing LNG)
Owner	NYK²
Builder	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo; President: Shunichi Miyanaga,“MHI”)
Vessel Type	165,000 cbm LNG carrier ”Sayaringo STaGE”³
Charter Period	About 20 years
Commencement of Charter	2018 (expected)

 

1.  MI LNG is a joint venture company for designing and marketing LNG carriers established between MHI and Imabari Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. in April 2013.

 

2.  MC is planning to participate in owning business for these two LNG carriers after approvals by the authorities concerned.

 

3.  MHI’s new designed LNG carrier whose fuel efficiency is improved by adoptions of continuous cover over apple-shaped tanks and hybrid propulsion system combining a highly efficient reheating steam turbine and dual-fuel diesel electric.

 

Achieving stable production, transportation and supply of LNG from the U.S.A. will contribute to the diversification of energy sources and more competitive procurement of energy for Japan.