At a signing ceremony in London Tuesday 26th March 2013, Bonny Gas Transport (BGT) consummated a deal ordering the construction of six new vessels at 1,600 million US dollars, inclusive of financing and development costs, from two Korean shipyards.
The six vessels, four from Samsung and two from Hyundai, which have a combined capacity of 1,053, 000 cubic meters, will increase BGT’s overall shipping capacity by 17 percent.
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.
The tankers will be delivered over a period of nine months from October 2015 to June 2016.
This particular deal entails BGT supporting more development of Nigerian Content through utilisation of Nigerian manpower, services and materials in all elements of the value chain in support of Nigeria LNG’s commitment to increased local productivity.
This is in advancement of government’s aspiration to increase the country’s participation in the maintenance and repair of large ocean going vessels, according to management.
BGT, a subsidiary of Nigeria LNG Limited (NLNG) 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.
NLNG is a Nigerian Joint Venture company whose shareholders are the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (49%), Shell Gas B.V. (25.6%), Total LNG Nigeria Limited (15%) and eni international n.a.n.v. (10.4%).
