Excelerate Energy has completed the $265 million purchase of the liquefied natural gas floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) Sequoia from Greece’s Maran Gas.

“Acquiring the Sequoia, at a price well below current market value, ensures the vessel will remain an integral part of the Excelerate fleet for the long term,” commented Excelerate chief executive Steven Kobos.

The Sequoia was purchased from Maran subsidiary Anemoesa Marine, a company incorporated under the laws of the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

The FSRU was delivered as a newbuild from South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to Excelerate in June 2020 under a five-year bareboat charter from Maran Gas. Under the deal, the US contractor had the option to purchase the FSRU during the charter term.

The Sequoia, which has storage capacity of 173,400 cubic metres of LNG, can operate as both an FSRU and as a traditional LNG carrier.

The FSRU is currently providing regasification services at the Bahia Regasification Terminal in Bahia, Brazil, which itself has regasification capacity of up to 700 million cubic feet per day.

Excelerate has provided regasification services at the Bahia terminal, as well as terminals at Guanabara Bay and Pecem since 2012.

Financing secured

Last month, New York-listed Excelerate closed an amended and restated $600 million senior secured credit facility, comprising a $350 million revolving credit facility and a $250 million term loan. Proceeds from the term loan and cash on hand were used to purchase the FSRU Sequoia.

“We are proud to add the FSRU Sequoia to the Excelerate portfolio of fully owned assets,” added Kobos.

“We look forward to continuing to utilise the FSRU Sequoia to provide flexible access to cleaner and more reliable energy to our valued markets.”

The Houston-headquartered regasification specialist now has 10 FSRUs in its fleet — all built by DSME — plus another 170,000-cubic metre newbuild on order at compatriot Hyundai Heavy Industries with delivery scheduled for 2026.