Subsidiaries of Navigator Amon Shipping AS, the joint venture between Navigator Holdings and Norway's Amon Maritime, signed a $121.8 million senior secured post-delivery term loan on July 31, 2026 to fund the delivery of two ammonia-fuelled liquefied ammonia carriers now being built in China.
The lenders are ING Bank N.V., London Branch, Société Générale and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation. The facility covers up to 70% of the cost of the two vessels under shipbuilding contracts signed in July 2025 with Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering. On that basis the two ships together carry a contract price of roughly $174 million.
Each vessel has capacity of 51,350 cubic metres and, in addition to carrying liquefied ammonia, will be able to carry liquefied petroleum gas. The ships are also designed to burn ammonia as fuel. Deliveries are scheduled for May 2028 and September 2028.
Because the loan is a post-delivery facility, none of it is drawn during construction. All pre-delivery instalments to the yard, plus the part of the delivery instalment not covered by the banks, will come from the joint venture's own cash, which the release says will be provided by the shareholders of Navigator Amon Shipping AS. Navigator Holdings has not disclosed its share of that equity contribution in this announcement.
The loan runs for six years after delivery and is secured by mortgages over the two vessels, among other security. Interest is set at SOFR plus 1.35%, payable quarterly — SOFR, the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, is the benchmark that replaced US dollar Libor. The borrowers' obligations are guaranteed by both Navigator Holdings and the joint venture company, and the agreement carries conditions, covenants and events of default that the company has not detailed.
Chief Financial Officer Gary Chapman described the financing as a step in "converting our ammonia growth strategy into a fully financed, commercially contracted investment", and said the vessels are intended to serve both existing LPG and ammonia trades and the developing market for ammonia as a marine fuel. The release refers to contracted employment for the ships but gives no charterer, rate or duration.
Navigator Holdings, listed on the New York Stock Exchange, operates a fleet of 54 semi-refrigerated or fully refrigerated liquefied gas carriers, 24 of them capable of carrying ethylene and ethane. It also holds a 50% interest in an ethylene export terminal at Morgan's Point, Texas.
The company said separately that it would publish preliminary unaudited second-quarter 2026 results the following day.
Source: GlobeNewswire
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