Capital Clean Energy Carriers clinched long-term employment for a pair of 174,000 cubic meters LNG/Cs currently under construction at Hyundai Samho.
The Nasdaq-listed company expects the vessels to be delivered in the first quarter of 2027.
The Greece-based owner of ocean-going vessels said the vessel Athlos has been chartered for a firm period of five years, with an additional five-year option at the charterer’s discretion.
The second vessel to be named Archon has been chartered for a firm period of seven years, also with a five-year optional extension to a major energy company.
The commencement of the charters will occur upon each vessel’s delivery from the shipyard.
CCEC highlighted the fact that under both charter agreements the company maintains the right to substitute other latest generation LNG/Cs from its fleet to perform in place of either the LNG/C Athlos or the LNG/C Archon.
Meanwhile, on January 30 the Axios II, an LNG/C vessel, commenced its seven-year bareboat charter, with the charterer having the option to extend the bareboat charter by an additional three years.
With the latest deals CCEC now has an average remaining firm charter duration of 7.3 years and $3.1bn in contracted revenues. If charterers exercise all extension options, the average duration would increase to 10.2 years, with total contracted revenues rising to $4.5bn.
Jerry Kalogiratos, CEO of CCEC, commented: “We are very pleased that two of our LNG carriers under construction have secured long term employment well in advance of their scheduled delivery. In our view, these fixtures signal that the long-term fundamentals of LNG shipping remain robust for high quality owners like CCEC, operating latest generation LNG/Cs, despite the challenges in the short-term market.
“Moreover, together with certain options exercised by one of our existing charterers for three of our in-the-water LNG/Cs, our contract backlog duration increased to 7.3 years with $3.1 billion in contracted revenues.”
Kalogiratos also revealed that the company has now only four latest generation LNG carriers under construction from its eventual fleet of 18 that are available for charter.
He also said that the company remains engaged with “multiple counterparties” regarding their future employment.
To remind, the company’s under-construction fleet includes six latest generation LNG/Cs (comprising the remaining newbuild LNG/C vessels that have not yet been delivered to the company) and the gas fleet.
As far as the container sector, the shipowner delivered during the first quarter of 2025 to their new owners the Hyundai Privilege and Hyundai Platinum, the last of five container sister vessels that the company agreed to sell.
The conclusion of these sales leaves the company focused on LNG and gas transportation assets with only three container vessels remaining in the company fleet, all of which are on long-term time charters, with one expiring in 2032 and two in 2033, with options to extend until 2038 or 2039, respectively.
