SPM Shipping Enters Gas Shipping with $91m VLGC Purchase from Dorian LPG
Key Takeaways
- •SPM Shipping bought Dorian LPG’s 2015-built Clermont for $91 million, marking its entry into the VLGC segment.
- •The vessel was acquired in a deal concluded in August, according to VesselsValue sales registers.
- •SPM Shipping already operates capesize bulkers and VLCCs, and the new purchase broadens its fleet into gas shipping.
- •Dorian LPG also sold the sistership Constellation for $87.3 million and the 2014-built Corsair for $81.8 million earlier this year.
- •The article describes SPM Shipping as a rapidly growing UAE-based shipowner affiliated with Priya Blue and Best Oasis.
Dubai-based SPM Shipping has entered the gas shipping segment with the acquisition of its first very large gas carrier (VLGC), extending a fleet expansion that has already taken the young owner into the capesize and VLCC segments within just a few years of shipowning.
The company has been named as the buyer of Dorian LPG's 2015-built, 84,000 cu m Clermont, paying $91m for the Hyundai Samho-built vessel. VesselsValue sales registers show SPM Shipping as the buyer in a deal concluded in August.
The purchase adds a gas carrier to a fleet that already spans the largest classes of dry bulk and crude tonnage. Capesize bulkers are the biggest dry cargo ships in service, typically deployed on long-haul iron ore and coal trades, while VLCCs (very large crude carriers) are the largest crude oil tankers. VLGCs, in turn, are the largest class of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers, with capacities typically in the region of 84,000 cu m, matching the newly purchased Clermont. Their cargo — LPG, used for heating and cooking and as petrochemical feedstock — moves on some of shipping's longest-haul trades, with VLGCs employed principally on routes from export centres such as the US Gulf and the Middle East to importers in Asia.
Clermont is the latest in a string of VLGC sales by Dorian LPG, a US-listed owner of very large gas carriers that operates one of the largest fleets in the segment. Earlier this summer the company sold the sistership Constellation, another 2015-built, 84,000 cu m unit, for $87.3m, while the 2014-built Corsair changed hands for $81.8m. Across the three transactions, buyers paid progressively more for newer tonnage, with the 2015-built pair fetching higher prices than the earlier-built Corsair.
SPM Shipping is a rapidly growing shipowner headquartered in the UAE. The company is affiliated with Priya Blue, one of India's largest ship recyclers, and is the shipowning arm of Best Oasis, a major global cash buyer of ships. SPM Shipping also operates a fleet of smaller offshore vessels.
