UAE-based shipping
company the Foresight Group has ordered four 90,000-cubic-metre LPG/ammonia
carriers from South Korea's HD Hyundai Heavy Industries. The contracts have an estimated total value
of US$470 million. Deliveries are scheduled to take place between 2029 and
2030. A Foresight official said the
dual-fuel very large ammonia carriers (VLACs) are the first four ships in a
planned 10-vessel programme valued at about US$1.2 billion. Deliveries across
the full programme are expected to proceed in phases from the fourth quarter of
2029 to the fourth quarter of 2033.
The group currently operates seven very large gas carriers (VLGCs),
transporting LPG from the US for Indian state-owned oil companies. According to the official, disruption in
the Strait of Hormuz had led buyers to obtain cargoes in the US and transport
them to India or Southeast Asia.
"If Indian state-owned oil refiners require newbuild tonnage for
longer periods, we are ready to lock with them on long-term charters," the
official said. Foresight also intends
to keep buying mid-life VLGCs on the secondhand market, with a target of at
least 25 internationally trading VLGCs and VLACs by 2034. Earlier secondhand
purchases include the 2009-built, 80,800-cubic-metre Progress in
2022. The official said the group
would consider LNG, ethane, or similar gas-based tonnage once it has more than
20 ships in operation.