SK Shipping to Become Asia's Largest LNG Carrier Operator

South Korean shipping companies SK Shipping and H-Line Shipping will swap vessels and long-term contracts in a deal that will make SK Shipping Asia's largest LNG carrier operator, their owner Hahn & Co. said on Thursday.

SK Shipping will receive 16 LNG vessels and related long-term contracts from H-Line Shipping in exchange for 12 tankers, long-term contracts and about $300 million in cash, Hahn & Co. said in a press release.

After the transaction, SK Shipping will operate 32 LNG carriers and 14 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels, becoming the third-largest LNG carrier operator globally.

Hahn & Co. plans to rebrand the company as K-LNG.

H-Line Shipping will become a tanker and bulk shipping-focused operator following the asset swap.

The reshuffle would improve scale and operating efficiencies at both companies and position K-LNG to benefit from growing LNG demand, Hahn & Co. said.

Both SK Shipping and H-Line Shipping are controlled by South Korean private equity firm Hahn & Co., which acquired a controlling stake in SK Shipping in 2018 and created H-Line Shipping in 2014 through the acquisition of Hanjin Shipping's long-term dry bulk business.

(Reuters - Reporting by Kyu-seok Shim; Editing by Ed Davies)