Through jointly owned Diamond LNG Shipping 3 Pte Ltd. (DLS-3), four Japanese companies will jointly own a new LNG vessel for the Cameron LNG project, according to a Dec. 27 press release from NYK, one of the participating companies.

The other participating companies are Mitsubishi Corp., Toho LNG Shipping Co. Ltd. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. Inc.

The new LNG vessel, which will be built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipbuilding Co. Ltd., has 165,000 cubic meters of capacity. It will be a Sayaringo STaGE carrier, and will be completed in 2019. When it is completed, NYK will manage it. It will transport LNG from the Cameron LNG project in Louisiana for Toho Gas and Tohoku Electric Power.

In December 2015, Mitsubishi reached an agreement on a shipbuilding contract with MI LNG Co. Ltd., additional to an agreement for time-charter with Diamond Gas International Pte Ltd. In May, Mitsubishi established a vessel owning company, DLS-3, on assumption of LNG vessel co-ownership with NYK, Toho LNG Shipping, and Tohoku Electric Power.

Since these four companies have received formal business approval by relevant authorities, NYK, Toho LNG Shipping, and Tohoku Electric Power now have an equity stake in DLS-3. The shipbuilding contract and the heads-of agreement for the time-charter contract were thus transferred to DLS-3 by Mitsubishi, according to the press release.