April 1977 - Maritime Reporter and Engineering News

Gotaas-Larsen Completes Financing Of LNG Carrier

Gotaas-Larsen Shipping Corporation has completed the financing for its newest liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Golar Freeze, and has taken delivery of the ship.

John G. Christy, executive vice president of IU International Corporation, Gotaas- Larsen's parent company, said financing in the amount of DM 208 million (approximately $86 million) was provided by a group of 11 West German banks.

The Golar Freeze was built in West Germany by Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft.

The ship has a capacity of 125,800 cubic meters of LNG, carried in five aluminumalloy tanks built under license to the spherical free-standing Moss Rosenberg design.

Later this year, the Golar Freeze will begin a six-month to two-year charter to Burmah Oil Company Limited, carrying LNG from Indonesia to Japan.

The Golar Freeze is the third LNG carrier to be delivered to Gotaas-Larsen. Two 125,000-cubic-meter sisterships, Hilli and Gimi, were built by Moss Rosenberg Yerft in Stavanger, Norway, and a third sistership is scheduled for delivery there in June 1977. All three of these vessels have been chartered for 20 years to carry LNG from Abu Dhabi to Japan, with operations scheduled to begin later this year. The first two ships are already earning charter hire payments.

Mr. Christy said that financings totaling more than $400 million have been completed or confirmed for vessels delivered to Gotaas- Larsen in 1976 and scheduled for delivery in 1977, with the major portion of this investment in LNG carriers.

The Golar Freeze is 278.5 meters (913.7 feet) in length overall, with a beam of 43.4 meters (142.4 feet) and draft of 11.5 meters (37.8 feet). She has a 40,000-shaft-horsepower turbine engine and a speed of 20 knots. The ship has a complement of 28 officers and crewmen.

The new vessel will transport LNG at minus 160 degrees Centigrade (260 degrees below zero Fahrenheit) at l/600th of its volume as a gas. After regasification, 125,800 cubic meters will equal 75 million cubic meters (2.7 billion cubic feet).

Gotaas-Larsen has its headquarters in New York and Oslo. With 30 years of experience in ocean shipping, Gotaas-Larsen today operates a fleet of 58 vessels, including LNG carriers, tankers, bulk carriers, and product/chemical carriers. The company also has interests in passenger cruise ships, and semisubmersible offshore drilling rigs.

IU International has its headquarters in Wilmington, Del., and executive offices in Philadelphia, Pa. IU serves six major markets : ocean shipping, land transportation, distribution services, utility services, industrial products and services, and agribusiness products and services.

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