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Capital Product Partners adds six medium gas carriers to newbuild contracts
Another half-dozen LNG carriers are on the Marinakis-controlled company’s balance sheets, with a combined US$756M order for 10 vessels
The US-listed wing of the wider Marinakis-backed group of companies, Capital Product Partners (CPLP), is undergoing a huge transformation, gradually exiting the container ship sector to focus on LNG carriers and what it calls the energy transition business.
The company is expecting to receive several state-of-the-art gas carriers by Q1 2027 and will soon rebrand as Capital New Energy Carriers.
In its latest order, CPLP added the six LNG carriers to a previously announced four ’multi-gas carrier’ set of ammonia and liquefied CO2 (LCO2) carrying vessels that it will acquire from another Marinakis business entity, Capital Maritime.
The company said it expects to finance the 10 newbuildings through a mix of cash assets, container vessel sales and finance.
"The partnership today announces a further continuation of its expansion into the gas sector through the acquisition of six medium gas carriers and four LCO2s, with expected deliveries from the first quarter of 2026 to the third quarter of 2027. This is a unique opportunity undertaken by CPLP to increase its footprint into the conventional gas and energy transition gas sectors, while retaining the core focus on LNG," CPLP said.
By 2027, CPLP chief executive Jerry Kalogiratos said his company expects to have 18 LNG carriers, but retain its "core competence" in carrying LPG.
"These new acquisitions will have the capability to move liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), ammonia, butane, propylene and liquid CO2. The shipbuilding berths secured are valuable early slots within a very tight shipbuilding market and at highly reputable shipyards for these types of vessels," Mr Kalogiratos said.
The dual-fuel vessels will be capable of running on LPG or fuel oil and sport shaft generators.
"The LCO2s are unique vessels we believe will place CPLP at the forefront of energy transition shipping," according to CPLP. "With the capacity to move more than 1M tonnes of liquid CO2 annually, these vessels are expected to be the workhorses of the ammonia and liquid CO2 industries."
CPLP’s transformation to gas shipping
In November 2023, CPLP agreed to acquire 11 newbuild LNG carriers in a US$3.1Bn deal, under an umbrella agreement with other Marinakis-linked companies, Capital Maritime and Capital Group, as CPLP prepares for its rebranding to Captial New Energy Carriers.
In its statement on the acquisition, the company said the "11 latest generation two-stroke LNG carriers [are] to enter CPLP’s fleet from 2023 to 2027, which would make the partnership the largest US publicly listed owner of two-stroke LNG carriers". CPLP said it intends to convert to a "customary" corporate governance structure when it becomes Capital New Energy Carriers, expected by the end of Q4 2024.
With the acquisition and recently announced vessel sales, CPLP now owns – or will soon take delivery of – 18 LNG carriers, with an estimated 11 neo-Panamax container vessels remaining, following the recent sales of multiple container vessels and its "sole dry bulk vessel, Cape Agamemnon" in Q4 2023.
The future Capital New Energy Carriers held the right of first refusal on the four certain 22,000-m3 muilti-gas liquefied CO2 carriers on order by Capital Maritime, as well as for a selection of future two-stroke LNG vessels and charters from Capital Maritime. For the LNG vessel transfers and charters, the right of refusal is in place until the end of 2033, while the company holds right of refusal on other vessel types until the point in time when Capital Maritime no longer beneficially owns at least 25% of CPLP’s shares.
At a company meeting in late 2023, CPLP announced its intent to sell off its remaining container vessel interests and transform to become "a leading LNG and energy transition-focused shipping corporation," in the words of CPLP’s Mr Kalogiratos.
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