Gunvor Group and Solvang have formed a joint venture (JV) to own and operate next generation eco-vessels for the LPG market, and have placed an order for five VLGC newbuilds from Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The vessels are scheduled for delivery between September 2026 to July 2027. All five vessels will be on long-term time charter to Clearlake Shipping, Gunvor’s chartering arm.
Frédéric Meeus, Member of Gunvor’s Executive Committee and Head of Naphtha and LPG said: “Gunvor’s partnership with Solvang demonstrates our commitment to investing in the future of shipping, with the latest, most environmentally responsible vessels. This JV also underscores Gunvor’s expanding presence in the growing global LPG market.”
Solvang CEO Edvin Endresen said: “We are very pleased to strengthen and expand our relationship with Gunvor with the JV to co-own five VLGC newbuilds. The VLGC newbuilds will be designed for onboard carbon capture, a solution we believe will be defining the next generation of LPG vessels.”
The VLGC newbuilds incorporate environmental technology developed through 12 years of Solvang’s ECO LPG Carrier programme. The package includes hull optimisation, shaft and propeller improvements, exhaust gas recirculation, and a Wärtsilä open-loop scrubber. The newbuilds will be ready for zero emission technology – the carbon capture system currently being installed for testing onboard Solvang’s vessel Clipper Eris.
The new vessels will have capacity of 88,000m3, which is the largest LPG load currently able to transit through the old Panama Canal, and the vessels will be the largest of the existing VLGCs in the Solvang Panamax fleet.
Solvang fleet director, Tor Øyvind Ask said: “These Panamax VLGC newbuilds are a particular compromise between loading capacity, fuel consumption, operational speed and physical dimensions of the hull to pass through the canal locks. All these factors add up in the environmental performance of the ship.”
According to Solvang’s philosophy, the environmental performance is a combination of fuel type, engine efficiency, and cleaning technology – rather than fuel choice alone. In the specific case of the Solvang-Gunvor JV, dual-fuel LPG did not come out as the optimal solution.
Ask said: “We went for a single liquid fuel system, one set of tanks, scrubber and EGR, ready to combine with shipboard CCS.
The single fuel system with exhaust gas cleaning is suitable for both HFO, low-sulphur fuel oil, MGO, bio-fuels, or e-fuels.
