The Alcaios I began an 18-month index-linked charter on delivery, with no floor and no ceiling on the rate. Management has a firm view on this winter.
Capital Clean Energy Carriers (Nasdaq: CCEC) has taken delivery of the LNG carrier Alcaios I and put it to work immediately on a charter tied directly to Atlantic spot rates.
The 174,000-cbm vessel was delivered by HD Hyundai Samho on July 31st. It is the 15th latest-generation LNG carrier in the Athens-based owner’s fleet, and it started a previously announced 18-month index-linked time charter on delivery.
CCEC is expected to fund the acquisition with cash on hand and $170m raised through the refinancing of two existing sale and leaseback facilities covering the LNG carriers Aristos I and Aristarchos. Alcaios I was added to the refinanced facilities as additional security by way of mortgage. Those facilities carry a 10-year term.
No floor, no ceiling
The charter structure is the part worth a closer look. On the company’s Q2 earnings call on July 29, CEO Mr. Jerry Kalogiratos was asked by Clarksons Securities analyst Mr. Omar Nokta if the contract carried a base rate with a profit share. It does not, the rate tracks the Atlantic spot charter rate for modern two-stroke vessels. “There is no floor, no ceiling,” Mr. Kalogiratos told analysts. “It’s just what the market is trading in the Atlantic.”
That exposure has been worth having this year. The average spot charter rate in 2026 to date has run at $93,000 per day, against $39,000 over the same stretch of 2025, on Mr. Kalogiratos’s account. He put the strength down to higher flat prices and a wide spread between benchmarks since the start of the Middle East conflict, conditions that push owners toward taking the option value in freight.
Filling a hole in 2028
The 18-month term was not a trade off on price. Mr. Kalogiratos tied it to the shape of the newbuilding program. CCEC has no vessel deliveries scheduled in the first half of 2028, and this fixture drops a position into that gap. The result is a charter profile with an opening in almost every quarter through to the second quarter of 2029.
That matters for an owner with 6 more latest generation LNG carriers on order for delivery between the first quarter of 2027 and the first quarter of 2029. Five LNG positions have yet to secure long-term employment. Spreading the expiries gives the company a shot at each turn of the market instead of one big roll of the dice.
It also keeps a floating rate through a winter management expects to be tight. Mr. Kalogiratos called the combination a trade the company is happy to have done.
Thin European storage, longer voyages
Chief commercial officer Mr. Nikos Tripodakis set out the backdrop on the same call. European gas storage has sat in the low to mid 30% range of capacity through 2026, at or below the five-year seasonal average and well under the past two years. US LNG exports to Asia climbed to roughly 4.1m tonnes in May, the highest monthly figure in the three years on the company’s chart.
The pull in both directions leaves fewer flexible cargoes for either region and more volatility around the arbitrage. Shipping becomes the way to capture the spread between European and Asian gas prices. That is the case for owning a ship on a floating rate in November.
Further out, CCEC puts the inflection point in early 2028, when tonnage demand overtakes newbuilding deliveries. Vessel requirements tied to FID and committed liquefaction capacity climb toward 706 ships by 2031 on the company’s numbers, against net fleet additions of around 255.
The wider picture
The delivery leaves CCEC with 20 vessels on the water: 15 latest-generation LNG carriers, 2 dual-fuel medium gas carriers, 2 handy liquefied CO2 multi-gas carriers and one legacy Neo-Panamax container ship. Contracted revenue stands at $2.9 billionon a firm basis, and above $4.3 billion if all charter options are exercised.
Second quarter net income from continuing operations came in at $29 million, against $29.7 million a year earlier, on revenue of $104.9 million. The board declared a dividend of $0.15 per share, the 77th consecutive quarterly payment since the 2007 IPO.
Net leverage sits in the low 50s against the fair market value of the fleet. Mr. Kalogiratos expects it to peak over the next two or three quarters before easing. The board will revisit dividend policy by the end of this year or early in 2027, once there is more visibility on employment for the LNG carriers due in the first quarter of 2027.
The next newbuilding, Antos, is one of those. CCEC is exploring long-term charters starting in 2027 and expects a clearer view by September or October.
About Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp.
Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. (NASDAQ: CCEC), an international shipping company, is a leading platform of gas carriage solutions with a focus on energy transition. CCEC’s in-the-water fleet includes 20 high specification vessels, including 15 latest generation LNG/Cs, one legacy Neo-Panamax container vessel, two dual-fuel medium gas carriers (“MG/Cs”) and two Handy Liquefied CO2 Multi-Gas Carriers (“HMG/Cs”). In addition, CCEC’s under-construction fleet includes six additional latest generation LNG/Cs, four MG/Cs, two HMG/Cs and one LNG dual-fuel Bunkering vessel to be delivered between the third quarter of 2026 and the first quarter of 2029. For more information about the Company, please visit: www.capitalcleanenergycarriers.com
