Wednesday, October 21, 2026 · Ocean Shipping & Ports
BW LPG India Sells BW Loyalty for More Than $80 Million as Fleet Renewal Advances
Noted by Adis Ajdin · 643 reads
The sale is expected to yield about $66 million in net cash proceeds and adds to BW LPG India’s planned vessel disposals.
BW LPG India’s sale of the 18-year-old BW Loyalty is expected to produce around $66 million in net cash proceeds and a gain of approximately $52 million, according to BW LPG. The transaction extends a run of profitable disposals by the company’s Indian subsidiary as the wider group prepares for a major addition of new vessel capacity.
The 2008-built very large gas carrier, with capacity of 84,601 cu m, has been agreed for sale at a price in the low-$80 million range. BW LPG India is 52% owned by BW LPG. The gain and cash proceeds figures are calculated on a 100% basis, so they describe the transaction at the subsidiary level rather than the portion attributable to BW LPG’s ownership stake.
Charter continues until handover
BW Loyalty is expected to remain on its existing time charter before the buyer takes possession. Completion is anticipated by December, though the buyer has not been named. The announced sale therefore sets out the expected financial outcome, while the handover and final proceeds remain dependent on the transaction closing.
Keeping the vessel on its current charter until the transfer means the sale does not call for an immediate end to its existing contracted trading arrangement. The source does not provide details on the charter’s duration, the buyer’s plans for the ship, or where it will trade after the sale. For fleet operators, those details determine how quickly a departing vessel’s capacity comes out of one owner’s programme and enters another’s.
The stated net proceeds are after taxes and transaction costs. They are not the same as the sale price: BW LPG puts the price in the low-$80 million range and estimates net cash proceeds at about $66 million. It also estimates a gain of approximately $52 million. These are separate measures of the transaction, and the company reports both on a full ownership basis.
Three announced sales total about $194 million
The BW Loyalty agreement follows two earlier sales by BW LPG India. In August, the subsidiary agreed to sell the 2007-built BW Birch, with expected net cash proceeds of approximately $64 million and an estimated gain of $37 million. In July, it sold the other 2007-built VLGC BW Elm, generating around $64 million in cash and a book gain of $36 million.
Together, the three transactions represent approximately $194 million in net cash proceeds and $125 million in gains on a 100% basis, including the expected figures for BW Loyalty. The latest transaction has not yet closed, so the combined totals include an agreed sale rather than only completed disposals. BW LPG has not supplied a revised fleet count or explained how each sale changes the subsidiary’s trading capacity.
The transactions show the cash and accounting gains attached to the announced sales, but the available figures do not establish how the company will deploy all of the proceeds. Nor do they specify whether the vessels will be replaced one for one. That distinction matters for shippers and charterers tracking available gas carrier capacity: asset sales can change the ownership and deployment of ships, while newbuilding deliveries arrive on a separate schedule.
New ships due from 2029
BW LPG’s fleet renewal plans include eight 90,000 cu m panamax VLGCs ordered from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries in May. The company put the contract value at approximately $940 million and scheduled deliveries between 2029 and 2030. The new vessels have greater stated capacity than BW Loyalty, but the source does not identify them as direct replacements for the ships being sold.
The timing leaves several years between the disposals announced this year and the planned newbuilding deliveries. The available information does not set out how BW LPG expects to manage fleet capacity during that interval. The vessel sales and the newbuilding programme are related parts of the group’s fleet changes, but the source does not give a ship-by-ship plan linking them.
In September, BW LPG raised $300 million through a convertible bond offering, with part of the proceeds earmarked to help finance the newbuilding programme. That financing adds to the company’s stated plan for the eight ships; it does not change the reported sale price, estimated gain or net proceeds for BW Loyalty.
For cargo interests following the VLGC market, the practical markers are the December target for the sale’s completion and the 2029–2030 delivery window for the new ships. The buyer, post-sale deployment and interim fleet plan remain undisclosed. Until those details emerge, the announced figures show a sizeable cash return from older tonnage alongside a longer-dated investment in larger-capacity vessels.
