NYK Doubles LPG Fleet with Takeover of ENEOS Ocean’s Shipping Business
Japan’s NYK Group highlights that it has become one of the largest operators of LPG carriers as part of its growth strategy. The company last year agreed to take over the shipping business from ENEOS and reports it completed the acquisition on schedule, today April 1, for an estimated cost of just over $500 million.
It was a two-stage transaction that first saw ENEOS, a Japanese petroleum company, transfer its LPG carriers, chemical and product tankers, and cargo ships into a newly formed subsidiary ENEOS Ocean. That represented the bulk of its shipping operations but excluded the company’s 12 crude oil tankers which it retains. In the second stage of the transaction, NYK acquired 80 percent ownership of ENEOS Ocean which was rebranded today as NYK Energy Ocean (NEO). ENEOS retains 20 percent ownership.
When the agreement was announced in July 2024, ENEOS cited the “increasing burden of investment driven by the rising cost of vessels, complicated by global environmental regulations.” It highlighted the focus on reducing CO2 emissions as well as the need for a digital transformation to improve both safety and operational efficiency.
“We are convinced that conducting business under a new owner better equipped to devise a growth strategy in the global shipping sector will be optimal,” ENEOS said explaining the reasoning for the sale. NYK has cited its pursuit of growth including a strategy focusing on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance). In its energy transportation business, NYK Group reports it will be strengthening its LNG/LPG carrier business as a growth business and is aiming to fulfill its responsibility for stable energy transportation as an infrastructure company.
NEO now operates 47 vessels, including 18 LPG carriers, 18 chemical and product tankers, and 11 cargo ships, all taken over from ENEOS Ocean. Together with the 16 LPG carriers currently operated by NYK, the NYK Group has become one of the world's largest operators of LPG carriers.
The NYK Group is also expanding its operations in LNG carriers. It is part of the expansion with QatarEnergy with a contract for five 174,000 cbm LNG carriers building at China’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding with deliveries starting in 2025. The company also struck a new deal with JERA and in December 2024 took delivery on a new LNG carrier it is operating for a subsidiary of Kyushu Electric Power Co.
In its last annual report (March 2024), NYK reported it was operating nearly 200 vessels owned or chartered in its energy group. Over half its fleet of 824 vessels operates in dry bulk.