Gunvor pays Exmar for disputed LNG vessel

Global commodities trader Gunvor has made an interim payment to Belgian fleet operator Exmar in relation to an LNG regasification vessel, S188,  which it has chartered for ten years, following a tribunal decision, Exmar said in a brief statement April 26. Exmar said the decision "has no negative impact on the EBITDA generated from this charter." 

Exmar has been receiving money from Gunvor despite the dispute, which Gunvor started in 2019. The arbitration is ongoing without financial impact. "Management assumes that the charter remains in full force and effect and is of the opinion that the hire paid is effectively earned," it said last September.

Exmar was involved in another dispute last year with Argentine YPF: the company did not produce enough gas for the Tango LNG tanker it had chartered. Exmar has so far received just over half of a $149mn settlement from YPF, and booked the entire amount in its results for last year under accountancy regulations.

"Meanwhile marketing of the liquefaction barge is in full swing and Exmar’s infrastructure team is actively working on several specific prospects for re-employment," the company said in its Q1 2021 results statement. It also said its fleet had "high and profitable employment coverage for the balance of the year."