Celsius has formed a joint venture with an affiliate of ArcLight Capital Partners (“ArcLight”), a leading middle-market infrastructure investor, to fund two of the LNG carriers. Gunvor will have a significant equity interest in the other two newbuildings, the first for any independent LNG trading company, demonstrating the strength of Gunvor’s global position in the LNG market. All four vessels will enter long-term time charters with Clearlake Shipping, a subsidiary of Gunvor. Delivery will take place during 2026 and 2027.

Celsius and Gunvor are committed to push boundaries for available design improvements to reduce environmental impact. These vessels’ highly efficient design minimize​s CO2 emissions and methane slip from operations via installation of air lubrication, enhanced reliquefication capacity, optimization of hull shape and use of the best available paint system to reduce the vessels’ friction in water. The vessels will be built to ABS class with Enviro+ notation for improved criteria for environmental protection.

Operational experience from Celsius’ current vessels demonstrates the efficiency of this design. The new order for four vessels at CMHI will be similar to the “ultra eco” Celsius vessels on order in Korea with improvements for emissions and reduced fuel consumption. The new vessels will be fitted with ME-GA propulsion.

Gunvor’s Co-Head of LNG, Kalpesh Patel, remarked: “We are very pleased to further expand our relationship with Celsius while demonstrating our commitment to the industry, both as charterers and now through our first major equity investment in LNG carriers. Importantly, these vessels are in line with Gunvor’s commitment to cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 40% by 2025. We have further committed to convert 100% of our fleet to eco-vessels by 2027. Gunvor imposes strict Carbon Intensity ratings in our vetting process, and these efficient vessels are critical for Gunvor as we strive to deliver physical energy to our customers with the lowest possible carbon footprint.”

Celsius Chairman, Jeppe Jensen, said: “We are very pleased to continue the growth of the LNG fleet and to expand the relationship with Clearlake and Gunvor. Celsius Copenhagen, our first LNG carrier, was delivered to Clearlake in 2020, and the relationship with Clearlake has further strengthened with this latest transaction. We are very pleased to further develop this business and to continue to deliver competitive and efficient services to Clearlake and Gunvor Group Ltd.”

With this transaction, Celsius Tankers’ LNG fleet now counts 18 x 180,000 CBM vessels technically managed in-house by Celsius Tech Limited.

ArcLight Partner, Lucius Taylor, commented: “This investment is highly complementary to ArcLight’s thesis in strategic natural gas infrastructure.  We are excited to partner with Celsius, a highly sophisticated ship owner and operator with industry leading ESG credentials.”

About Gunvor Group
Gunvor is one of the world’s largest independent commodities trading houses by turnover, creating logistics solutions that safely and efficiently move physical energy from where it is sourced and stored to where it is demanded most. Gunvor has strategic investments in industrial infrastructure — refineries, pipelines, storage and terminals — and in shipping assets that together complement our core trading activity and generate sustainable value across the global supply chain for our customers. The company, which in 2022 generated US $150 billion in revenue on 165 million MT of volumes, is also one of the leading independent global traders of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

About Celsius Tankers
Celsius Group is a leading ship owner and operator focusing on sustainable, infrastructure-like investments and special opportunities within the maritime industry. Celsius Group has a diversified fleet of +40 vessels across LNGCs, Product & Chemical Tankers as well as Container Feeders including newbuildings on order. Celsius Tankers’ LNGC fleet now totals 18 ultra efficient vessels, four vessels in operation and 14 Newbuildings on order. Celsius Group has an active approach to ESG including employee well being, reduction in carbon emissions and health & safety. Celsius Group has committed to the UN sustainable Development Goals with special focus on climate action, decent work and economic growth and life below water.

About ArcLight
ArcLight Capital Partners, LLC is an experienced, middle-market, value add infrastructure investment firm. Founded in 2001, ArcLight helped establish infrastructure as an asset class by pioneering an asset-based private equity approach to investing in infrastructure and has since built an experienced and successful investment platform. Based in Boston, U.S.A., ArcLight’s investment team employs a value-added, operationally intensive investment approach that benefits from its dedicated in-house technical, operational, and commercial specialists and partners, as well as the firm’s approximately 1,800-person asset management operational partner. More information about ArcLight can be found at www.arclight.com.

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THE NEWBUILDINGS WILL ASSUME LONG TERM EMPLOYMENT TO LEADING INDEPENDENT LNG TRADER, GUNVOR.

Celsius Tankers’ latest string of Newbuildings from Samsung Heavy Industries will enter into long term time charters with Clearlake Shipping, a subsidiary of Gunvor Group Ltd., the largest independent LNG trading company in the world. Delivery from Samsung Heavy Industries will take place during 2023 and 2024.

Celsius Tankers recently took delivery of the fourth and last LNG carrier from the previous series of 180,000M3 XDF vessels ordered at Samsung Heavy Industries in 2018. Operational experience from the vessels has proven the efficiency of the original design. The new order for four (4) vessels will be sister vessels to the first four (4) vessels but offers additional improvements including lower emissions and reduced fuel consumption. The new vessels will be fitted with ME-GA propulsion.

Celsius Chairman, Jeppe Jensen said: “We are very pleased to continue the growth of the LNG fleet and in particular to expand the relationship with Clearlake and Gunvor. Celsius Copenhagen, our first LNG carrier, delivered to Clearlake one year ago, and the relationship with Clearlake has worked in the best possible way. We are very pleased to further develop this business and to continue delivering a competitive and efficient service to Clearlake and Gunvor.”

Co-Head of Gunvor LNG Trading, Kalpesh Patel, remarked: ““We are very pleased to further expand our relationship with Celsius, as we continue to build upon our success, which has already made Gunvor the largest independent LNG trading houses. These vessels are among the most efficient LNG carriers ever designed. We are conscious of upcoming regulatory changes, and these vessels are in-line with Gunvor Group’s commitment to cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 40% by 2025. We have further committed to convert 100% of our fleet to eco-vessels by 2027.

Gunvor imposes strict Carbon Intensity ratings in our vetting process, and these efficient vessels are critical for Gunvor as we strive to deliver physical energy to our customers with the lowest possible carbon footprint.”

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Gunvor Group, one of the world’s largest physical energy commodities traders, has announced commitments in the areas of environment, social, and governance (ESG) targeting a 40% reduction in the company’s Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2025. The commitments come as a part of Gunvor’s Sustainability Commitments 2021 document, which outlines how the company is navigating the Energy Transition.

For Gunvor, the two most significant activities that generate greenhouse gas emissions are the company’s industrial activities, specifically its European oil refineries, and its shipping fleet, both owned and chartered. Gunvor has committed to taking significant steps to reduce and/or compensate scope 1 and 2 emissions by 35% and 95%, respectively, by 2025.

Overall, Gunvor commits to both further improve the environmental impact of its current trading portfolio and invest in new sustainable commodities and businesses. The company determines that steps must be taken today to effectively manage, limit, and where possible eliminate emissions, given the role hydrocarbons play in the global energy mix today. At the same time, the commercial viability of sustainable sources of energy is being increasingly realized. As new commodities enter and grow, Gunvor will be a part of ensuring their safe and efficient movement to help balance markets.

Gunvor’s 2021 Sustainability Commitments charter lays out the details of the plan. Gunvor Group has already begun to undertake the following:

• Established dedicated vehicle, Nyera (Swedish: “New Era”), to formalize non-fossil fuel investments comprising a minimum of 10% of net equity that, with leverage, is expected to amount to a commitment of at least half-billion dollars (USD).
• Areas of Nyera’s focus include carbon capture and storage, renewable fuels, renewable power, and alternative fuels, including ammonia and hydrogen.
• Company’s major credit lines will continue to embed specific sustainability-linked goals with linked KPIs.
• For existing and new trading, dedicated programs will be established to reduce emissions and environmental impact, while taking into account human rights considerations, in line with our commitment to the UNGPs on Business & Human Rights.
• Emissions from refineries will continue to decrease compared to 2019, through efficiency projects and a switch to renewable and carbon neutral electricity.
• 100% of owned ships and 75% of time charter shipping fleet will be “eco-vessels” by 2022, with an overall 100% before 2027.
• Gunvor is in the process of finalizing its assessment of Scope 3 emissions, including those linked to the traded commodities and voyage charters; the company commits to follow the IMO improvement in efficiency targets of 40% by 2030, as per Gunvor’s membership in the Sea Cargo Charter.

Additional detail can be found in the four-page Sustainability Commitments 2021 document.

As a leading global physical commodities trading company, Gunvor Group is inherently equipped to be responsive to market changes, and the company’s success over the last 20 years is based on its ability to do so. While Gunvor has historically focused on the safe and efficient movement of crude oil and oil products, the company has been for more than a decade diversifying into new commodities and strategies in response to shifting markets and opportunities.

About 50 percent of Gunvor’s trading today consists of “transitional” commodities, based on the EU Taxonomy, which includes biofuels, natural gas, and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The company has also ceased physical coal trading and acquired biofuels plants. Gunvor was the first physical energy trader to launch a sustainability-linked financing, directly tying its performance in 15 different ESG criteria (including emissions reduction) to the interest rate of a facility.

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Artemis Technologies, founded in 2017, is an applied technologies spin-off of the Artemis Racing sailing team, which competed in the 34th and 35th editions of the America’s Cup—the most technologically demanding sailing competition in the world. Artemis Technologies is a purely commercial endeavour that draws on the team’s world-class designers, engineers, and boat builders to develop practical applications for its advancements in speed and efficiency.

“Artemis Technologies is working on a number of compelling innovations that will help decarbonise the maritime sector at a time when there is growing demand for low-carbon alternatives,” said Torbjörn Törnqvist, Chairman of Gunvor Group. “Gunvor has committed to reduce the carbon footprint of the commodities we’re trading and our industrial processes, as well as to explore relevant commercial opportunities. There is no silver bullet to the climate change issue. Many solutions are needed.”

Gunvor’s investment will aid Artemis Technologies’ development of a transformative electric hydrofoiling propulsion system, the Artemis eFoiler^TM that will power “green” vessels of the future. The vessels developed as a part of the Belfast project will operate with up to 90% less energy than traditional ferries, with the capability of carrying up to 350 passengers and produce zero emissions during operation.

This Artemis eFoiler^TM system combines technologies from the 13-partner Belfast syndicate, which includes a mix of companies within the maritime, aerospace, energy, and automotive industries, as well as academic institutions and public bodies.

“With approximately 30% of ship emissions coming from domestic voyages, the maritime sector is under pressure to develop and adopt new disruptive innovations,” said Double Olympic sailing gold medallist and CEO of Artemis Technologies, Dr. Iain Percy OBE. “This means that reducing emissions on smaller domestic fleets, which typically make these shorter journeys, will be key in meeting net zero goals.”

Artemis Technologies was recently profiled in the “Future of Everything” podcast.

The Belfast Consortium was recently profiled by BBC News.

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“Gunvor’s strategy to expand into vessel ownership while taking advantage of historically low shipbuilding prices for eco-friendly newbuilding tankers is validated by these transactions,” said Jan Andersen, Gunvor Group’s Head of Shipping. “In doing so, we’re pleased to be partnering with some of the best shipowners in the market.”

The two MRs were delivered by Hyundai in 2018, and have since been on long-term time charter to Clearlake Shipping, the chartering arm of Gunvor Group. This approach allowed Gunvor to commercially optimise the vessels since delivery, generating value as co-owners and charterers, with the sale realizing a profit of approximately 50% on Gunvor’s initial equity investment (before costs).

Just-C continues to hold investments in 15 products tankers, owned through 33% or 50% JVs with leading global shipowners.

About Top Ships

Top Ships is an international owner of modern, fuel efficient “ECO” tanker vessels focusing on the transportation of petroleum products (clean and dirty) and bulk liquid chemicals. The company is incorporated in the Republic of The Marshall Islands and have been trading on NASDAQ since July 2004 under the ticker “TOPS”.

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The vessel to be employed under this time charter will be the hull 2479 at DSME.

Commencement of the time charter will be in connection with the delivery of the ship ex yard which is scheduled for August 2020. The time charter will have elements of variable rate of hire across the charter period.

Hull 2479 is a large state-of-the-art 173,400 cbm LNG carrier fitted with a modern high pressure two-stroke slow-speed propulsion system (ME-GI). The vessel is also equipped with a Full Reliquifaction System (FRS) enabling a very high level of operational flexibility given the low boil-off rate of 0.035% per day. The vessel will be named as Flex Artemis.

Kalpesh Patel, Co-Head of LNG at Gunvor, commented: “Gunvor is continuously searching for ways to meet our customer’s requirements in a safe and efficient manner. Working with a first class Owner like Flex LNG helps us achieve that goal. This charter builds on our already deep and successful relationship and we look forward to taking delivery of one of the most technologically advanced LNG vessels in the world to serve our long term portfolio.”

Øystein M. Kalleklev, Chief Executive Officer of Flex LNG Management AS, commented: “We are very pleased to enter into this long-term charter with a top-tier customer like Gunvor which has been the most active LNGC spot trader in the burgeoning LNG trade. We are confident that our vessel will be very suitable for their trade given the very high technical specification of this vessel. This charter is also in line with our strategy of delivering incremental higher level of backlog as we are growing our fleet of vessels on the water.”

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act or the continuing obligations of Oslo Børs

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Gunvor Group, one of the largest physical energy trading companies in the world, has entered into a joint venture with Oceangold Tankers and Maas Capital to form ClearOcean Tankers, a new ship holding company. The three partners hold an equal share in ClearOcean Tankers, which has been incorporated in Cyprus.

ClearOcean Tankers has entered into shipbuilding contracts with STX Offshore & Shipbuilding Co. for four MR2 product tankers, and with Daehan Shipbuilding Co for two LR2 product tankers. All six of the contracted vessels will be delivered during the first half of 2019, and will be eco-friendly and scrubber-ready, in view of the International Maritime Organization’s new standard for lower global sulphur emissions from international shipping that will be implemented in 2020.

Clearlake Shipping, Gunvor’s wholly-owned shipping division, has entered into long-term time charters for the vessels and Oceangold Tankers is also acting as construction supervision and technical manager of the vessels. ClearOcean Tankers may acquire additional newbuilding, resale or second-hand crude oil or product tankers in the future.

Jan Andersen, Head of Shipping at Clearlake, commented: “Expanding into vessel ownership and taking advantage of the historically low shipbuilding prices to contract eco-friendly, scrubber-ready newbuilding tankers represented an attractive opportunity. Teaming up with solid partners like Oceangold Tankers and Maas Capital enables us to control more vessels and to de-risk our investment.”

John Dragnis, CEO of Oceangold Tankers, commented: “We are delighted with the establishment of a unique partnership that brings together one of the largest charterers of product tanker vessels in the world with in-depth market knowledge, a ship owning and management group with unblemished track record and a financial investor with a longstanding track record in the shipping industry.”

Mark Ras, Managing Director of Maas Capital Shipping, commented: “This investment exemplifies our investment approach of acquiring top assets at a compelling price in partnership with top industry participants. We aim to invest together with leading and longstanding industry players and are excited about this new partnership with Gunvor Group and Oceangold Tankers.”

About Gunvor Group
Gunvor Group is one of the world’s largest independent commodities trading houses by turnover, creating logistics solutions that safely and efficiently move physical energy, metals and bulk materials from where they are sourced and stored to where they are demanded most. With strategic investments in industrial infrastructure—refineries, pipelines, storage, terminals, mining and upstream—Gunvor further generates sustainable value across the global supply chain for its customers.

About Oceangold Tankers
Oceangold Tankers is a management company that was established by the Dragnis family in 2007 and today operates a fleet of 10 tankers internationally, comprising five MR2 product tankers, one Panamax crude oil tanker, two LR1 and two LR2 product tankers.

About Maas Capital
Maas Capital, is a dedicated investor with a long-term vision and focus on the Shipping & Intermodal, Oil & Gas and Renewables sectors.

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Challenges & Opportunities in a Changing Market
By David Fyfe, Director of Research & Analysis

Major physical energy trading houses have in the last decade transformed from a role as merchants to being increasingly embedded all along the supply chain.

Physical traders are inherently resilient, with a historical track record of rapid innovation and effective risk management. They are built to confront changing business environments by making adjustments in location, structure, funding, operating regime and strategy. Size matters, up to a point, but so too does the ability to remain nimble as new investment and trading opportunities arise. This is why, over the last decade, major physical traders have evolved from being just merchants to being increasingly embedded all along the energy supply chain.

Today, most major physical traders have developed a greater presence in concrete, industrial assets compared to any historic profile the industry has had. These include refineries, pipelines, storage, terminals, and upstream. Although it is unlikely major trading houses will become fully vertically integrated as the “international majors” have traditionally been, successful companies have found ways to diversify in beneficial ways.

There have been several forces driving this transformation, including:

• A need by physical traders to respond to diminished pure trading margins, caused by sharply lower price volatility post-2009;
• A desire to diversify their portfolio of products and geographies to spread risks;
• Opportunities arising from international oil companies, independent companies and investment banks divesting physical assets on a geographical or sector-specific basis;
• A need for increased optionality for trading operations (access to “flow”) with corresponding logistical, arbitrage and operating efficiencies.

This change in emphasis among physical traders has had significant implications for the way the companies operate, for their corporate structure, and for how they are financed. It has opened them to greater public scrutiny than in the past, and has seen them subject to increased oversight by national and international regulators—with now more than 70 regulatory authorities worldwide covering health and safety, insurance, emission and environmental control, product, cargo and counter-party due diligence, international trade and sanctions legislation, and banking, exchange and derivatives market rules.

To navigate this new environment, each trader has taken its own path.

Gunvor, for one, has been investing in downstream, midstream and upstream assets that strategically complement its daily trading activity, and now possesses more than USD 2 billion worth of (investments in) industrial assets spread through the world, including in Europe, North and South America, Africa and Asia. Each asset enables Gunvor to better manage its trading platform by offering an enhanced understanding of sourcing and distribution components, to diversify its income streams and to strengthen its competitive position amidst rapidly changing markets.

A good example is the Ust Luga Oil Products Terminal on the Baltic Sea, constructed from greenfield and wholly-owned by Gunvor. It is considered to be the largest rail-ocean transshipment terminal in the world, with a projected capacity of more than 30 million metric tons per annum, 960,000 cubic metres of storage, and an ability to handle 300,000 dwt vessels. The terminal significantly enhances Gunvor’s logistics capabilities for refined petroleum products transportation, and also provides a material, stable earnings stream.

Such investments are a part of Gunvor’s long-standing strategy to enable continued growth in turnover and profitability, while retaining the unique business attributes for which traders are renowned. The company’s structure, geographical and sector presence, and strategy have effectively adapted to meet changing market conditions. Gunvor, along with its competitors, will continue to react dynamically to changing market conditions, while its core business remains the safe, efficient movement of physical energy commodities from where they are sourced and stored to where they are needed most.

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