Capital Product Partners LP Stock

Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results. Please note that this event is being recorded. [Operator Instructions]

I will now turn the call over to today's host, Brian Gallagher, Head of Investor Relations. Brian, please go ahead.

Thank you, and a warm welcome to our call today.

With us, we have the management team, myself, Brian Gallagher; Mr. Nikos Kalapotharakos, our Chief Financial Officer; Jack Neilan, our Commercial Head of LPG; along with Nikos Tripodakis, our Chief Commercial Officer for the call. And next one, we have our Chief Executive, Jerry Kalogiratos, joining us for the Q&A session.

Before that, I'd like to make the following statement. I must advise you that this conference is being recorded as of today, Wednesday, 29th of July 2026. The statements in today's conference call are not historical facts, including our expectations regarding the sale or acquisition, transactions and the expected effect on us, cash generation, equity returns and future debt levels, our ability to pursue future growth opportunities, our expectations or objectives regarding future distribution amounts or share buyback amounts, dividend coverage, future earnings, future leverage, capital allocation as well as our expectations regarding market fundamentals and the employment of our vessels, including delivery dates, redelivery dates and charter rates, may be forward-looking statements as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934 as amended.

These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the stated or forecasted returns and results to be materially different from those anticipated. Unless required by law, we expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise any future of these forward-looking statements, whether because of future events, new information or change in our views or expectations to conform to actual results or otherwise. We make no prediction or statement about the performance on our common shares.

With that, I'll now move on to the presentation on the screen in front of you. And you can see starting on our highlights page on Q2 2026 on Slide 4. It was a very busy and productive quarter on every front. Operationally, we took delivery of 4 vessels in total in the single quarter, 2 LNG carriers, a Handy LPG/LCO2 carrier and 1 dual-fuel medium gas carrier with a further MGC delivered this month. We also announced a joint venture on an LNG bunkering vessel, and we also initiated a $20 million buyback program during the quarter.

On the financials, net income came in on continuing operations for the second quarter at $29 million, and we declared a dividend of $0.15 per share. Strategically, CCEC is now the largest U.S. listed LNG company by tonnage and with a diversified customer base and a total of $2.9 billion in firm contracted revenues. If full charter options are exercised across the fleet, contracted revenue backlog exceeds $4.3 billion. So another strong delivery of quarter -- sorry, another strong quarter of delivery for the company.

I'll now hand it over to our CFO, Nikos, to take us through the financial highlights.

Thank you, Brian, and good morning or afternoon to everyone on the call.

Now before turning to the financials, I would like to touch upon the dividend payout, which remains a core component of the company's value proposition to our shareholders. The $0.15 dividend we have declared will be paid on August 13 to shareholders of record on August 4. Please note that this is the 77th consecutive quarter that the company is paying a cash dividend since its IPO in 2007.

Now going back to the company's financials and more specifically the statement of income. Our net income from continuing operations was $29 million for the second quarter of 2026 compared to $29.7 million during the same period in the previous year. Revenues for the 3-month period ended June 30 rose to $104.9 million, up from $96.7 million during the same period in 2025. The increase was mainly attributed to the increase in the average number of vessels in our fleet, following the deliveries of our 2 Handy gas carriers, Active and Amadeus, the delivery of our first dual-fuel medium gas carrier, Aristogenis and the deliveries of the 2 LNG carriers, Archimidis and Agamemnon.

Now there are 2 cost line movements worth highlighting this quarter. First, vessel operating expenses, which increased during the quarter compared to the same period last year, mainly due to approximately $3.5 million of additional costs incurred by certain of our vessels passing their special survey this year, coupled with the increase in the average size of our fleet. Second, depreciation and amortization rose also reflecting the increase in the average size of our fleet, following the delivery of 5 new vessels during the first half of this year.

Now moving on to the next slide, where we provide a brief update on our special survey schedule. We currently have remaining LNG carriers, Attalos and Asklipios, which are expected to pass the special survey this August. After that, no vessels are scheduled for special survey until 2028. Our guidance remains unchanged at a cost of approximately $5 million per dry dock and around 20 to 25 off-hire days, although the dry docks completed so far have come ahead of budget and with fewer off-hire days.

Now moving on to our balance sheet where total assets grew to $4.7 billion from $4.1 billion at year-end, mainly driven by fixed assets, which rose to $4.3 billion as our newbuilding program progressed and we took delivery of vessels. Total shareholders' equity currently stands at $1.5 billion. We maintained a solid cash position of $269 million and a net leverage ratio of approximately 54%. During the quarter, we fully repaid our EUR 150 million bond issued back in 2021, funded from the proceeds of the EUR 250 million bond we issued during the first quarter of this year, which pays a coupon of 3.75% per annum and thus achieving to extend the maturity profile of our debt at relatively low cost.

So let me now turn to our CapEx program, where the funding of our newbuilding program is weighing high. We have already paid a significant portion of the required CapEx drawing mainly on internally generated cash flows, asset monetization and attractive debt financing, including recent bond issuance. As we progress through 2026 and 2027, we expect CapEx to be weighted mostly towards the LNG carriers. As you can see, assuming 70% financing for the vessels that do not yet have debt arrangements in place and without taking internally generated cash flows into account, we expect the company to be fully funded for the remaining CapEx with a significant amount of cash to be released back to the company.

Now turning to the next slide on our interest rate risk management. With rates staying higher for longer and uncertainty about the path of monetary policy from here, we have decided to take some of that uncertainty or viability off the table. During May and July, we executed two zero cost collars on compounded SOFR, one for $600 million and the second for $200 million in notional both with 3-year tenures, bringing our total protected notional to $800 million. The collars sit between a weighted average floor of roughly 3.7% and a cap of 4.3%. Consequently, if SOFR stays elevated or moves higher, our exposure is capped while we still retain the benefit if rates decline. As a result, approximately 50% of our total debt is currently either fixed rate based or protected against rising interest rates.

Now with that, I will now pass this on to our Head of Commercial, Nikos Tripodakis, to go through the LNG industry update.

Thank you, Nikos, and good morning or afternoon, everyone.

I will run through a brief update on the LNG markets over the past quarter and thoughts on market development, starting on Slide 12 with a new venture for us. As you can see in Slide 12, our LNG charter book gives us exceptional forward revenue visibility. The contracted revenue backlog stands at approximately $2.8 billion with an average remaining firm charter duration of 6.5 years. If you include all of the charters extension options, that backlog increases to $4.1 billion and the average duration extends to 9.4 years.

As you can see from the chart, these charters run deep into the 2030s, firm coverage extends as far as 2037 and with options that are not visible in the chart as far out as 2043. This is a long-dated contracted cash flow that underpins our dividend and investment program. During the second quarter of 2026, we secured employment for 3 of our newbuilding vessels that were delivered in June and July. This leaves only the Amore Mio I open for 2026. This vessel has already secured long-term employment commencing in the first quarter of 2027, and we remain confident that we will be able to capitalize on the seasonal strength of the winter market by securing an attractive bridging charter before she begins her 10-year employment.

Looking further ahead, we expect the delivery of 3 additional vessels during the first quarter of 2027, one of which has already secured long-term employment with a super major commencing in 2028. We believe it is still relatively early to execute on the remaining positions. However, as we move closer to delivery, we expect to see growing commercial interest and begin more attractive discussions with potential charters.

Moving now to Slide 13 and a recap of how the LNG market reacted to the supply disruptions over the past few months. The headline for the LNG market during the second quarter has been the rebalancing of volumes following the Qatari outage. Even though the impact of the loss of Qatari volumes has been and is still evident in the elevated gas prices in Europe and Asia, the ramping up of production, mainly from the United States, has acted as a buffer. At the same time, strong demand from Egypt, India and Bangladesh have helped to counter the drop in purchasing from traditional buyers like China, Japan and Korea.

If you look at the balance change from March to June 2026, the single largest move came from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates with supply available to the market tightened by around 292 million cubic meters per day. However, the increase in production by 132 MCM per day from the U.S. led to a net supply loss of 96 MCM, and it is more clear than ever that the role of the United States as a dominant and reliable LNG producer is increasing, and we continue to believe that the importance of the U.S. will only increase in the future.

Moving now on to Slides 14 and 15. Please allow me to summarize our view on the current LNG market dynamics. Two clear trends have been reshaping the LNG trade flows since the war started. First, more U.S. LNG cargoes are heading to Asia, significantly increasing freight tonne-mile demand. U.S. LNG exports to Asia have been climbing throughout 2026, reaching roughly 4.1 million tonnes in May, the highest monthly level across 3 years shown on the chart.

The second trend is that European gas inventories are sitting well below the 5-year seasonal average. European storage in 2026 has been consistently in the low- to mid-30% of capacity, materially below where it was in the prior 2 years and consistently at the lower end or even lower than the 5-year average. This combination of Asia purchasing more U.S. LNG cargoes, while Europe runs down its buffers has kept gas prices elevated and supported freight rates throughout the year. At the same time, the market is set for a volatile winter where the main importing regions would compete against each other for the scarce flexible availability of U.S. cargoes. This type of war between Europe and Asia for the few flexible cargoes creates volatility around arbitrage opportunities and leads to fewer relet vessels being offered as shipping length becomes the means to capture the option value on the European and Asian gas price spreads.

Let's turn now to Slide 16 and examine the breakdown of the supply growth towards the end of the decade. Looking further out, the supply growth story extends well into the early 2030s, and it is heavily weighted towards the United States. As mentioned earlier, the U.S. is now expected to have more than 255 million tonnes per annum of liquefied capacity by the end of 2031. When you add the recovery of the Middle East volumes, the delayed North Field expansion and the continued U.S. growth, global liquefaction capacity pushes towards roughly around 900 million tonnes per annum by the early 2030s. It's worth noting that there's a near-term wrinkle here. 2026 actually is the loss of 12.8 million tonnes per annum and the idling of some capacity around 4% annualized loss this year, even as new U.S. and Asia Pacific volumes come online. But the medium-term trajectory is clearly one sustained U.S.-led supply growth.

Moving to Slide 17, where we look at our shipping supply and demand outlook, and we can see that the inflection point when demand outpaces newbuilding deliveries is in early 2028. On the supply side, net fleet deliveries built to a peak of around 292 vessels in 2029 and then decline as scrapping accelerate. We expect cumulative scrapping of over 160 vessels by 2031 based on the dry docking schedule and time charter redeliveries. On the demand side, the vessels required to serve FID and committed LNG capacity climbed sharply to roughly 706 vessels by 2031 on the FID and committed basis, far outstripping the net fleet additions of around 255 ships.

This concludes the LNG market update. Please allow me to hand the presentation over to Jack Neilan, the Head of our LPG business, to introduce the dynamics of this market.

Thank you, Nikos. Good morning, good afternoon, everyone.

What we want to achieve over the next few slides is to provide a succinct but hopefully interesting insight into our medium gas carrier fleet within CCEC, the market dynamics, our positioning and strategy. So kicking off on Slide 19 with a summary of our fleet. This slide lays out our LPG fleet delivery schedule. The key message is that this is a focused investment program built around 2 market pillars, medium gas carriers and Handysize liquid CO2 carriers presented here as one unified investment case. The program totals 348,000 cubic meters of capacity across 10 vessels with delivery staged from January 2026 through July 2027, arriving steadily each quarter.

On the LCO2 side, Active and Amadeus have already delivered and tunneling oil and LPG. On the NGC side, we have Aristogenis has delivered into a 12-month LPG employment and Aridaios was delivered on the 23rd of July and is currently balancing towards the U.S. Gulf. By July 2027, the program is complete. On the commercial side, our chartering strategy reflects the nature of each market. The MGC segment is dominated by shorter time charter durations of 6 to 12 months. So our approach there is built around a deliberate balance between spot and short-term charter exposure while also reviewing longer-term opportunities as they arise. This gives us the flexibility to capture upside as the freight market strengthens, while still securing a base layer of contracted cash flow and earnings visibility appropriate to this segment as how this segment typically trades. It allows us to respond to near-term rate volatility, such as we've seen recently in the Atlantic Basin without sacrificing the predictability our investors expect from a program of this scale.

Looking a bit deeper at our positioning on Slide 20. This is really the heart of our gas investment thesis. And I'd like to sum up as earning on LPG today built for the energy transition of tomorrow. On the CO2 side, we have four 22,000 cubic meter liquid CO2 carriers, the largest such vessels in the world, with global CO2 capture expected to reach around 210 million tonnes per annum by 2030. There are 12 LCO2 carriers already in operation or in order and the fleet set to scale potentially to 55 vessels by 2030 according to DNV. We are a genuine first mover in an entirely new shipping segment.

Our MGCs, our liquid dual-fuel ammonia ready newbuilds, giving them the flexibility to trade LPG and ammonia, including low-carbon ammonia as that market scales. Our liquid CO2 carriers go a step further. Though with the same LPG and ammonia trading flexibility as the NGCs, but with the added capability to shift into LCO2 as that market develops. And this is an elegant part of the structure, both vessel types earn cash flow from the LPG and ammonia market today. In practice, that means that every vessel in this program benefits from today's established LPG economics, entering a market with record U.S. export volumes and structurally tight tonne-mile demand. So across the fleet, we get paid on established LPG economics now while holding a layer set of free options for the energy transition edge.

Let me spend a moment on why we're confident in the LPG markets in the short- to medium-term. Global LPG demand is being filled by 3 structural forces. The first and largest is residential and commercial use, cooking, water and space heating, which accounts for around 58% of global LPG demand across more than 280 million households. The strong rural to urban switching away from biomass and coal and emerging economies like India, Africa and Southeast Asia. The second is petrochemical feedstock at around 30% of demand, where propane and butane are cracked for ethylene and propylene. There are currently more than 22 new PDH plants commissioning with China leading the propane import growth. And the third is cleaner-fuel switching as LPG displaces higher emission coal, wood and diesel. To frame the size of the price, the global LPG market was worth $149.6 billion in 2025 and is forecast to grow at a rate of 3% to 4.5% compound annual through 2034.

On the shipping side, the LPG map is being reborn by 3 forces. First, a U.S. supply unlock. U.S. seaborne LPG exports have climbed from around 1.45 million barrels per day in 2020 to an estimated 2.7 million by 2026, an 86% increase with enterprises 300,000 barrels per day Houston Ship Channel expansion coming online in 2026 and the Neches River Terminal Phase 2 to follow. Second, an Asia pull. India is targeting 10% of its LPG from the U.S. with its national oil companies already locked into 2.2 million tonnes of term barrels for 2026. And third, this is the crucial one for the tonnage, a tonne-mile lift. Every U.S. Gulf cargo to Asia represents roughly a 70-day round voyage versus a 25 days for an AG to India cargo. Those long-haul voyages absorb capacity and tighten effective tonnage. LPG freight is fundamentally the price that clears the U.S. to Asia arbitrage. So this dynamic drives both the volatility and the earnings in the segment.

So how is CCEC positioned within this NGC market? We have 6 dual-fuel MGC carriers on order, four 45,000 cubic meters and two 40,000 cubic meters for delivery across 2026 and 2027. Both vessels are capable of carrying LPG, ammonia and petrochemical gases. The competitive advantages of these vessels are threefold, greater cargo intake, enhanced design and dual-fuel capability together delivering a much lower cost base than the currently on the water. The enhanced designs include shaft generators, reducing daily fuel consumption from the auxiliary engines, along with 2 deck tanks that enable both dual-fuel bunker flexibility and the ability to store cargo for great change. With this, we are seeing a meaningful shift in charters preference towards dual-fuel technology as conventional units face rising regulatory compliance costs and a widening premium to dual-fuel tonnage. These vessels are built at Hyundai Mipo and Nantong CIMC.

Lastly, I'd like to draw your attention to the very recent trading picture. The LPG market since the onset of the U.S.-Iran conflict has shown how resilient it can be. Since the large proportion of LPG and ammonia exports blocked in Strait of Hormuz, buyers have to look further fuel to meet the requirements, a switch in trading patterns to the overall increased tonne-miles across both the Handy and MGC markets. The charts on this slide illustrate the recent freight rates. This again justifies the point made earlier that LPG freight is the clearing price of the arbitrage and the product volatility of this kind generally works in the direction of stronger earnings for well-positioned tonnage.

I'll now pass you back to Brian to provide a summary before we open to questions.

Thank you, Jack.

On the conclusion slide, just bring all of those different assets together. You can see on this slide, we have a pictorial view of our fleet, both on the water and that we anticipate. This slide captures the full picture of what we've built and what we intend to build, ultra diversified gas fleet designed to meet the challenges and opportunities ahead. On the water, we have LNG carriers, all latest generation dual-fuel 174,000 cubic meter vessels, supported by MGC gas carriers that Jack has gone through with LPG and ammonia capability and also 4 liquid CO2 multi-gas carriers transporting CO2, LPG and ammonia.

At the bottom of this summary slide, we show we have a new LNG bunkering vessel alongside our single legacy one container vessel, which remains on a long-term charter with optionality associated with it.

For those focused on equity story, a few reference points. We trade under the ticker CCEC as a U.S. equity listed on NASDAQ. We domiciled in the Marshall Islands with the headquarters in Athens, Greece. We have 60.3 million shares in issue and our market capitalization is approximately $1.4 billion total today. So this is a modern, contracted, diversified fleet attached to a clean and clearly defined equity story.

That concludes our prepared remarks. Thank you very much for your attention. I'll now open it to my colleagues for questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Alexander Bidwell from Webber Research & Advisory.

So while we don't know for sure when the conflict in the Middle East will end, the JKM and TTF forward curves seem to have priced in a degree of continued impact into early 2027. How does this compare to the sentiment you're seeing amongst charters as well as shipping appetite over the next 12 months?

I think the charter -- the spot charter rates speak for themselves to answer this, Alex, because their situation has been consistent throughout this conflict, higher flat prices, the JKM, TTF spread being wide all the way to now, as you mentioned, Q1, and this has led into significantly higher spot charter rates compared to, let's say, pre conflict. To put things in perspective, the average spot charter rate so far this year has been $93,000, whereas last year, it was $39,000. Now this whole situation is very much front and the curve is backwardated. It all comes down to, as you mentioned, how long this conflict will last. For as long as it lasts, the volatility and the uncertainty will lead to freight being the means, as we mentioned in the presentation, to capture the option value of a wider spread.

All right. Appreciate the color. So switching gears over to LNG bunkering. Following the announcement of the JV, how are you thinking about LNG bunkering with respect to the overall business? And how might you go about growing your footprint beyond the first vessel?

Alex. That was -- it is a new segment for us, the investment in LNG bunkering -- the LNG bunkering business with LNG bunkering parts. It is quite a different business, of course, to the transportation of the commodity per se. It is a market that has quite a growth trajectory in view of the dual fuel LNG fleet that is either in the water or under construction with quite robust growth. But at the same time, the end users, the charters for these type of vessels is only a handful of companies either super majors or certain specialized companies active in the bunkering business. So I think we would be overall cautious and typically invest in assets where we have visibility in terms of the employment as we contract the vessel. Here, we went forward with contracting the newbuilds together with CMA on a 50-50 basis with the expectation that this vessel will service the CMA LNG fleet down the line.

The next question comes from Liam Burke from B. Riley.

On the Alcaios I, you had secured an 18-month charter. I know you had an index-linked charter rate on that. But what was the logic of taking a shorter duration? Was the charter rate that attractive where you would sacrifice duration for payment?

Logic behind the duration is that we do not have any deliveries of our newbuilding vessels in the first half of 2028. That was one of the reasons why we chose this be. So it's nice to diversify our redelivery profile and keep options open throughout basically every single quarter all the way to Q2 2029. We always want to have options to explore every potential long-term charter possibility. And we feel that the weakness in the front will have dissipated by the time this vessel redelivered. And at the same time, we get a floating rate, which combined with a very strong view on this winter, fits into a trade that we're very happy to have done.

Great. And on the LPG front, obviously, the nature of that service is a shorter duration. So in the prepared comments, there was some discussion about exploring longer-term charters. How realistic is that? Or is this mainly going to stay a shorter-term duration business?

Yes. It's mostly traded, as mentioned on the MGCs on much shorter term. There are some traders that look towards longer term to bring down their unit value. They do come about from the best that we got balancing towards the U.S. Gulf, we have assessed some opportunities, but we felt that the strength in the West at the moment -- it took -- it made the decision easy for us that we should play shorter term and in that spot market at the moment. So we look to cover for the next 6 to 12 months before looking towards any longer-term commitments that may come along.

The next question comes from Omar Nokta from Clarksons.

A sensible update. I just have a couple of quick questions. Maybe just on the -- you had mentioned last quarter looking to take advantage of the stronger spot market in LNG and you're fast tracking some of the newbuilding deliveries. And as you were just talking about, you put the one vessel, the Alcaios away for 18 months on that index-linked charter. Are you able to give just some detail on that? Is that a contract where there's a base rate with profit share? Or is it just simply a variable moving rate based off of the spot market?

So just a comment on this fast tracking of the newbuildings. This was a decision that we took early into the conflict with significant risk that has played out very well given the fact that we managed to secure a 9-month charter at what has been basically the average of the spot market this year, so a very healthy rate. That played out well. And when it comes to the Alcaios and the 18 months floating, can you repeat the latter part of your question, just to make sure I answered accurately?

Yes. I was just asking if that the index-linked portion of the contract, is it a base rate with a profit share? Or is it just simply variable based off of the spot market averages?

So it's based on the Atlantic spot charter rate for modern 2-stroke vessels. There is no floor, no ceiling. It's just what the market is trading in the Atlantic.

Okay. And then just a follow-up on the next newbuilding, I think it's called Antaios. I think that comes either later this year or early next year. Kind of what are your thoughts on that vessel? Any chance to "fast track" that one also if there's an opportunity? And then how are you thinking about chartering that ship?

That's a good question. So no, we are not discussing about fast tracking those Q1 positions and theirs being the first one, as you accurately pointed out. For those, we're exploring long-term charters starting in 2027, we believe that it's still very early in the LNG market to capitalize on that on the tenure that we're looking, and we will have more visibility as we come closer to the delivery. We expect by September or October, we have a very clear view on what the best option for us is for those vessels.

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Stephanie Moore from Jefferies.

I guess maybe looking at just some of the supply side of the market here, given the elevated order book across some of the industry, how are you thinking about the relative opportunities and risks across LNG carriers versus maybe midsized gas carriers over the next several years? I guess thinking about it for you guys, what underpins your confidence in the current size mix of your fleet? And then are there any other areas you would look to increase or reduce exposure to as this newbuild cycle unfolds?

That's a fair question. We have currently remaining 5 positions that -- in terms of the LNG carriers that do not have long-term employment in place. That's 2 ships in Q1 '27 and 3 -- one, end of '28, two in Q1 '29. I think we would want to see more visibility with regard to the employment of these vessels. It doesn't have to be all of the uncommitted newbuilds, but at least some of these positions to be fixed away before we look at contracting new LNG carriers. Having said that, we do remain quite constructive as Nikos described during his prepared remarks on the LNG market. The current turmoil has created short-term opportunities might have delayed slightly the expected recovery. But one thing is for certain that the additional LNG volumes will be coming. And if anything, given where these volumes are coming predominantly in the U.S. and the Americas and where the demand is going to be.

And if you add a bit of geopolitics there, there will be additional effort to source LNG away from the Gulf. I think both the demand as well as the tonne-miles will be there in the long term to support LNG shipping and see good markets ahead. So I think this is a market that we will be keeping a close track of and be very open to opportunities. We will, of course, always look for back-to-back opportunities that could be accretive to our bottom line. And then on the other gas segments, the -- let's say, the LPG segment from all sizes from these down to Handys, Jack described our current strategy.

We are quite constructive on the long-term fundamentals of the market. We do think that given the direction the market has taken, it can absorb the order book and will be especially ships that have dual-fuel capabilities or high specification will have -- will be very much in demand. So I think that's also a market that we will be following. So in a nutshell, I think we have quite enough on our plate, a large order book. A lot of it has been derisked, and we have also the cash flows and the capital as also Nikos Kalapotharakos described. And we need to see some more visibility with regard to employment, where we're definitely open into new opportunities.

Very clear. And then maybe just one quick follow-up. That did tick up, I guess, sequentially here during the quarter. Maybe just talk a little bit about what your target leverage range is today? And then maybe as you think about balancing growth investments, returning cash to shareholders and the like, that would be helpful.

Yes. So in terms of leverage, we continue to be in the very low-50s in terms of our net leverage against the fair market value of our assets. So I think we are at very strong levels. We are, of course, at a growth phase as we take delivery of certain assets over the next few quarters, you might see that leverage increase somewhat. But that should be only temporary as we take delivery of the vessels and with the amortization that we have -- debt amortization that we have in place, leverage should peak over the next 2, 3 quarters and then start coming off.

In terms of the dividend, I think we have communicated in previous calls that once we are at the end or close to the end of our original newbuilding program, we will reconsider our dividend policy. I think the Board will stick to that guidance. So I think by the end of this year, if not early next year, which will be where we will -- and after we have more visibility also on the employment of the LNG carriers due in Q1 '27, we can be more constructive on the dividend and see how we can revise it. So the guidance remains, and that's irrespective of any additional newbuilds like our 2029 newbuilds that have been subsequent to that guidance or any other acquisitions.

[Operator Instructions] Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's presentation. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your line. Have a great day.

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corporation First Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. We have with us Mr. Nikos Calapolorakos, Chief Financial Officer; Mr. Brian Gallagher, Executive Vice President, Investor Relations; and Mr. Nikos Tripodakis, Chief Commercial Officer. Kindly note that Mr. Gery Kalogiratos, Chief Executive Officer, will join the call following the prepared remarks and will participate in the Q&A session. [Operator Instructions] I must advise you that this call is being recorded today, Thursday, May 7, 2026.

The statements in today's conference call that are not historical facts, including our expectations regarding sale or acquisition transactions and the expected effect on us, cash generation, equity returns and future debt levels, our ability to pursue growth opportunities, our expectations or objectives regarding future distribution amounts or share buyback amounts, dividend coverage, future earnings, capital allocation as well as our expectations regarding market fundamentals and the employment of our vessels, including delivery dates, redelivery dates and charter rates may be forward-looking statements as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended.

These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the stated or forecasted results to be materially different from those anticipated. Unless required by law, we expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether because of future events, new information, a change in our views or expectations to conform to actual results or otherwise. We make no prediction or statement about the performance of our common shares. I would now like to hand the call over to our speaker today, Mr. Brian Gallagher. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, operator. Good morning or afternoon to wherever you are, and thank you for listening to the Capital Clean Energy Carriers Q1 2026 Earnings Call. As a reminder, we'll be referring to the supporting slides available on our website as we go through today's presentation. So let's kick off with the highlights on Slide 4.

Q1 showed further progress for the group across the board on 3 different fronts. Firstly, as we announced in our Q4 results in March, during the first quarter, we raised an additional EUR 250 million in a Greek bond with a 3.75% coupon. Secondly, and after the quarter end, we announced an innovative transaction with the Energy Trading Group, BGN, including a 10-year time charter for one of our existing LNG carriers. This will boost further our LNG revenue backlog to over $2.9 billion, and which we'll cover more in detail later on. Thirdly, the business continued to deliver on all 14 of the vessels we had on the water during Q1, and this brought about a net income result of $18.3 million after off-hire periods and special survey costs incurred by 2 of our LNG carriers and was reflected in a cash dividend to our shareholders of $0.15 per share.

In the final bullet on this slide, we show that we've got Board approval for a 20 million share buyback program over the next 2 years. Clearly, the outlook for the company and the sector has been dominated by events in the Middle East since February 28, and our Head of Commercial, Nikos Tripodakis, will explore more on these slides in his remarks later on. With that, I'll now hand over to Nikolaos Tripodakis. [Technical difficulty]

Okay. So let me begin from the financial highlights for the period. So good morning or afternoon to everyone listening in today.

Moving to Slide 6. Brian already touched upon the dividend payout, which remains an important and core component of the company's value proposition to shareholders. The $0.15 dividend we declared will be paid on May 20 to shareholders on record on May 11. Please note that this is the 76th consecutive quarter that the company has paid a cash dividend. Net income from continued operations was $18.3 million for the first quarter of 20 compared to $32.7 million during the same period in the previous year. Net income for the quarter was heavily impacted by the off-hire periods and [Technical Difficulty].

Not sure what you have heard already. So let me start from the beginning, just to be sure. So, with respect to our financial highlights for the quarter. As Brian already touched upon, upon the dividend payout, which remains -- the dividend payout remains an important and core component of the company's value proposition to our shareholders. The $0.15 dividend we declared will be paid on May 20 to shareholders on record May 11. Please note that this is the 76th consecutive [Audio Gap] [Technical Difficulty] Declared a $0.50 per paid May 1.

Please note that this is the 76th consecutive quarter [indiscernible] .18.3 million for the first quarter of 2023. million during the same period in the previous year. Our net income for the quarter was heavily impacted by the off-hire periods and additional and operating costs incurred by set and far vessels, which passed the five-year vessels during the period. Oil expenses specifically during the first quarter of 2036 amounted to $6.2 million compared to $1.1 million during the first quarter of 2025. The increase was mainly attributed to budget expenses incurred by the LCO2 multicast carrier active relating to the Palace Lake from the Sibiat into the delivery age underneath charter and demand for expenses incurred by two of our vessels passing their five-year special survey balancing to their dry dock. In addition, budget expenses this quarter also included war risk insurance premiums paid by certain of our vessels to the amount of 2.7 million due to the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the village. Please note that these premiums were fully reimbursed by our charterers and are included in earnings.

Moving on to the next slide, there are four LNG vessels written there by their fifth year of age during 2026, mainly Adamas Kosendar Istapos, who concluded their dry dock in March and April, respectively, and Atlas and Daslipilos, which we expect to commence the dry dock in the third quarter of this year. After that, none of our vessels is expected to pass special until 2028. In terms of total dry remain dry and around 20 to 25 days of off-hire. Although in terms of total dry token costs, the guidance remains the same at 5 million per dry token, around 20 to 25 days off of hire. Although in terms of total dry token costs, the guidance remains the same at 5 million per dry token, around 20 to 25 days off of hire.

Moving now on to slide eight, we concluded the quarter with a cash position of 546 million, up from 296 million in the previous quarter with a financial average ratio of 45.6%. The financial position of the company was targeting good by the issuance of the 240 million euro pound in February, evidence in our ability to tap into alternative sources of funding.

Moving now on slide 10, where we provide the summary of the expected new building deliveries for the remainder of the year. Placio two multi-gas carrier and a dose was delivered to us a few days ago, and is expected to trade in the LPG and Tamoia markets on short to medium-term charter business. In addition, we have brought forward the delivery dates of three LNG carriers, the Asimovi, the Aga Mama, and the Alcroach one into what we expect to be a stronger charter market. We expect to report more on the employment of the LNG carriers in the coming weeks.

Moving on to slide 11. Following the BTM transaction, we now have 97 years of contracted backlog at an average PCA rate of approximately $86,400 USD per day, representing a $2.9 billion of contracted revenue. Our LNG fleet continues to provide long-term cash flow visibility to our investors. If all options are exercised by all shoppers, the contracted backlog increases to 1 to 136 years or to $4.3 billion in contracted revenue, respectively.

Turning now to slide 12 and the BGN transaction we announced in April. As announced, we have agreed to sell a 49% interest in Yamora Mia-1, a 2023 bid LNG Carrier, a global energy trader, at a contract price of $230 million. The transaction is expected to be consummated in the first quarter of 2037, and will enable the company to retain a 51% stake in management oversight, while at the same time, securing a 10-year time charger for the vessel options to extend for up to six additional years. The chapter arrangement, if all options are exercised, is expected to generate up to 485.6 million leans through 2043, further enhancing the visibility of the company's long-term cash flows.

Moving now to our CapEx program, on slide 13. As you can see, the funding of our new printing program is well supported. We have already paid a significant portion of the required CapEx, mainly supported by internally generated cash flows, asset monetization, and attractive debt financing, including the recent bond insurance. Part of the proceeds of the newly issued bond were used to repay the bond issued in 2021. We plan to use the remainder to support the financing of our CapEx and for other general corporate purposes. As we progress through 2026 and 2027, we expect CapEx to be must be weighted toward the LNG carriage.

As you can see, assuming 70% debt financing for the vestors that have not yet debt arrangements in place, and without taking internally generated cash flows into account, we expect the company to be fully funded for the remaining CapEx and expect a significant amount of cash to be released back to the company. I would like now to turn to slide 15 and our Chief Commercial Officer, Nikos Toukodakis, who will run through our LNG market slides. I will then be available to answer your questions at the end of the call. Nikos, over to you.

Thank you, and good morning or afternoon to everyone. The first quarter in LNG shipping was shaped by the conflict in the Middle East with a substantial part of global LNG volumes stranded in the Arabian Gulf, eclipsing any seasonal softening in charter rates. Qatar facility on the 18th of March a moment for the LNG and LNG shipping markets directly affecting global LNG supply dynamics.

Qatar's role in the LNG industry is indispensable, producing approximately 30% of the world's output annually with nearly 80% to Asia as illustrated by the chart on Slide 15. This event represents a profound structural shift in our market, one that has [indiscernible].

As the chart indicates, the duration of Qatar's production outage is still unclear, but what is clear is that this outage will continue to have upward pressure on prices and highlight the need for security and diversification of supply, mainly for Asian buyers as we can see now on Slide 16. The reduction in available LNG is not merely a past event. It has already begun to reshape global energy market dynamics. We're witnessing a direct fierce competition between Asia and Europe for what has become a much scarcer supplier of commodities. European buyers must now act decisively to free reserves ahead of winter, while gas stages in Europe remain approximately 20% lower than the 5-year average. Meanwhile, purchasing is also expected to be strong, albeit more price sensitive. Looking ahead, energy security and security of supply will be critical. This is a theme that we will revisit throughout this discussion. When it comes to the effect of the Qatari outage for LNG shipping, flexible LNG from the U.S. will inevitably travel structurally longer routes, resulting in extended ton miles and increased demand for modern tonnage.

Moving over to Slide 17. We will now take a look into the role of the U.S. as a source of reliable and flexible supply in the future. The United States are now positioned at the heart of global LNG market developments, taking on a central and indispensable role in shaping future supply and demand dynamics. Analysis produced prior to recent geopolitical shifts already highlighted the surge in U.S. LNG volumes with Asia set to capture a growing share. Looking ahead, the scale of and the demand for this expansion is staggering. Between now and 2025, an estimated 220 to 300 new LNG vessels will be required to facilitate this expansion, followed by a replacement cycle demanding an additional 250 to 300 LNG carriers beyond 2035.

Turning now to Slide 18. The recent geopolitical events of Q1, however, have not affected all LNG carriers in the same way. Once again, large, modern and efficient vessels like the CCEC controls with the lion's share of the benefits while older and smaller tonnage is finding it increasingly more challenging to secure employment on a long-term charter expires and they have to compete against older vessels. As such, the impact is visible with scrapping rates for older toners climbing sharply. 2025 set a new benchmark for LNG carrier scrapping as illustrated by the chart on the left. Not only did we witness a record number of vessels sent to the great results, but the pace has accelerated even further in 2026 with 5 LNG carriers already scrapped in Q1 alone, while several others have been laid up. This run rate is unprecedented for this time of the year, underscoring the challenges that older vessels face, and we expect the trend to continue with approximately 80 to 100 steamships removed in the next 3 to 5 years. Combining now what we have discussed so far, let's have a look at CCEC's position in this market.

Turning to Slide 19. CCEC is uniquely positioned to excel in this environment of higher energy prices, longer ton miles and need for fleet replacement. We control the lion's share of modern tonnage, more than 15% of all available newbuilding vessels, and we provide unique flexibility compared to any other operator when it comes to both newbuilding availability and diversification of delivery we are also set to benefit from vessels redeliver to us on existing time charters towards the end of the decade, creating a staggered and diversified redelivery profile that allows us to capitalize on any commercial opportunity that arises in what is a very strong part of the forward time charter curve as it is shown in our supply and demand summary on Slide 20.

Under our S&P model, the main assumption here is that the main assumption change is the capacity reduction for which we assume 3 years. We assume no change in the delivery schedule of new buildings and any other -- this pushes the inflection point slightly into 2028 from our previous estimate of the end of '27, exemplified by a net 231 LNG carriers being delivered to a market requiring between 224 and 277 depending on FID status. Clearly, there's a number of important and scalable moving parts within these assumptions. However, the dynamics highlighted in earlier slides provide us with confidence that there is ample demand for LNG shipping, which allows CCEC to benefit from this current dynamic geopolitical situation and generate positive returns for our shareholders. This concludes our presentation for today, and I'm happy to pass it back to the operator and open the floor for questions. Thank you.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Alexander Bidwell with Webber Research.

I wanted to circle back on the topic of LNG buyers and the diversification. So how have you seen this impact charter sentiment around longer-term ton-mile demand? Are you -- or rather are charters expecting diversification to stretch ton miles into the back half of the decade?

It's a very good question and one that is very tricky to answer accurately. What we're seeing now is something that has never happened in the industry month and then interesting month before. That is a sense of uncertainty regarding the cathartic applies for Asian buyers. So, something that was a constant in the energy commodity market was that cathartic applies constant and casual buyers relies. This law has shaken that consensus, and I believe more and more Asian buyers will go to the U.S. for their volumes. This is structurally and inevitably increases on miles. Now, the extent of this is hard to gauge, but we do believe that this whole world will be very beneficial for U.S. oils in the future, and as such, inevitably, longer than miles as well.

Thank you. Appreciate the color. Just switching gears. Appreciate the rundown on the more new one sale in the JV structure. Looking ahead, are you considering similar opportunistic deals to fixer-open new builds? And is there any preference versus standard long-term charters?

I would say that this was rather opportunistic as you said, it was a very good way of party monetizing one of our older results in the field, of course, by [indiscernible] overall. She will be four years old when the transaction consummates. And at the same time, secure 10 years after for a position that, especially before the war, was a more difficult position given market conditions. So I was certainly opportunistic, but of course, if the validation is right and the employment is right, we'll look it again.

Our next question is from Omar Nokta with Clarson Securities.

Thank you. Hi, Gery. Just a couple of questions for me, maybe just one specifically to capital, and apologies if you already answered this in your presentation, but just in terms of the early delivery of the new buildings by a few months' time, I just want to get a sense of what's behind that, what drove you to get those earlier, especially since I think two of them remain open for contract. Is there any kind of price concession you got from New York for that, or are there charter opportunities maybe that are driving you to want to take delivery of them sooner?

I'll answer in the first part of the question with regards to how we've got today with believers and maybe we can take a bit of the max conversion that we see for these persons. So the reason that we brought this believers forward is because we thought that, you know, the disruption, that there is a potential to capture some of the important Markov conditions. But really to put it into context how this came about, we have previously disclosed the delivery of two, which goes to delay two of our electric carriers from their original grid schedule, actually one was delayed by a few months, and that was the Agamemnon, and now the Agamemnon really goes back to the original 2026 delivery. When the Altimirs and the Algeus, they were both forward only slightly forwarding to 3/26. And secondly, we worked again with the secret to align the construction progress to start in that now, see as a strength of the market.

And with regards to what we see at Limbuco, there is . The rationale we find advancing the deliveries of those two, well, three shirts, one is just by one month, is the fact that We wanted to capitalize on the strengthening of the front part of the curve. To put you in perspective, the first market was trading at 35,000 at the end of January, right, for more than two soil presses in the Atlantic. Once the global cloud, that increased or spiked to 300,000, now it has normalized to around 100,000 roads per day. And this effect on the high gas prices and both affect the multi-month and one-year high charging rates. So effectively, from our side, it was a quick commercial move to capitalize on what we believed would be a persisting strong market. And what we can say now is that three months into the conflict, we are already in a position to raise the benefit of that move, and we continue to show a fairly strong market for one year and winter charges.

Okay, that's very helpful. Interesting dynamic there. And then perhaps then just as a follow-up, as you mentioned, spot rates were kind of litering at the bottom before the crisis. It shot up to 300, now we're at 100 and kind of seemingly steady there. Just maybe on that, are you surprised that rates have been able to hold up at these levels, just given how much of that Qatari capacity is offline? And what do you think is actually keeping rates elevated, given the lack of cargos, at least out of the Middle East?

It's a very good question. I think the main driver behind the increase in charge rate is the Increase in the flat price of the commodity effectively, as well, not as a lot in energy shipping, it's not just, you know, 10 miles and availability of ships. It's also the underlying margin that any training or property can actually make on the carbons, so when we have... The commodity price is doubling from $10, $11 per MBQ to $25 at the peak, and now back at around $17, let's say. The margin is still healthy to support higher sub rate. And in anything, the percentage recruit on sub rate is more than the percentage margin that traders gain on the commodity.

Yes, the AB is important and the OPNAB supports Saturday even more, but the most important thing is a flat price increase on the gas prices globally, and the fact that there's a lot of risk premium pricing for month-to-month and one-year durations. So that removes also really much length on the market. Sure that is available.

Our next question is from Liam Burke with B. Riley Securities.

Thank you. Hi, Gery. How are you today? Gery, there's been a lot going on, to say the least, in the LNG market. Post-conflict, we have no idea how it shakes out, but has it changed your view of the non-LNG or LPG market, or non-LNG gas transport market?

No, not really. If anything, again here, the war in Iran and the blockade of the Homi states has had beneficial impact on capital rates across the dependence of the LTP hormone market. The LTC market is on fire as we speak and the LTC market is mostly sold out. I think our next Nubia is in a very good position to capture the buffer. We have seen fixtures, certain fixtures, not too much fixtures, close to $2,000 per day. Market has moved upwards, a one-year market for an NPC is And probably at the range of several, 3000 per day, potentially north of that, so I think the thing was that the handling of the two markets, the sending us like our delivered sales carrier, again, we have seen improvement in numbers compared to what we would be able to fix in earlier in the first quarter, and we expect also to be able to give a lot more color both on the other inside as well as what we are on the SDC side over the coming weeks.

There's a few things that we are working on, but we cannot necessarily disclose. But overall, I think what we see is an improved market conditions. And in addition to that, I should also add that we have seen as a consequence, but also Because of the wider use of the market, the value is rising, so this has been also quite beneficial for our intrinsic value for NAB. So overall, I think we have tailors across the markets. The only category is, of course, that there is huge vulnerability as well as So we still need to see what happens in a little bit longer.

Great, thank you, Gery. And the JV, the sale of the Amari Mio, was to a global energy trading firm. Is this JV, I know you talked about it earlier, but is this a precursor to doing more business with global trading firms?

Liam, when you put together a joint venture like that, there is always a potential for more business. BGN is also one of the largest LPG traders out there, especially out of the U.S. And they have been expanding their brands now into LMG. So there are potentially two contact points there, both the MEC and the SEC, because where we can do more business, it could be more likely than not straightforward time structures or other sort of employment. And as I said earlier on, when you have potential, it could be easy to look into similar ownership structures. I hope that answers your question, but I think it's always good to be able to come together with companies that have the type of.

Our next question is from Sharif Omagrabi with BTIG.

Hi, good afternoon. Thanks for taking my questions. First, you talked about near-term strength in the curve. At the same time, Asia has been burning more coal. So is that something that you see as a structural headwind over the near-term before more LNG supply comes on in the U.S., for example?

I would mention in the presentation that the Asian market is more profensive, hence the more replacement by coal, and that has always been the case. But I think all of these dynamics are incorporated in the forward curve. And if you look at the forward curve for the commodity, the balance of 2026 remains very strong. So, if anything, What has happened so far has been tightened. The reflecting of coal is tightening the curves, and the margins remain very healthy. Now, structurally noted, we don't expect this replacement to continue. Our leadership was cleaner fuel and cleaner energy, globally and in Asia. We only think it's a solution when prices reach a certain level, which is hard to gauge, but in this market, gaining them touching on replacement. Especially the flat prices are high enough to support the margin that allows for safe rates to be very helpful.

Got it. And then shifting to LPG, what does the charter market look like for your LCO2 carriers? It's a bit more of a niche market I'm less familiar with, so it would be helpful to get any sort of color around what sort of routes they trade or what are the long-term time charter opportunities there?

That's very hard. So I think we should be thinking of our 22,000 cubic liquid scale to carriers, sophisticated pen-y-less handicap carriers. As we have discussed in previous calls, the LCO2 business has a longer timeline, so we see a number of projects approaching the 2035, 2030 type of dates. So until this emerged and we continue to work there with a number of charters, and we will simply show the vessel as a sending SMPT carrier. So there you have multiple cures, you have LPG, you have petrochemical cargo, you have ammonia, and the expectation is that this vessel will show it into the , and Current market rates, I would say, are probably one year to see closer to the currently low purchase for one year. Higher if you are trading in the stock market. Do the very versatile shift, so you can trade into many different trades. But as I said earlier on, right now the LPG market is quite strong, so we hope to be able to take advantage of that. Very helpful. Okay, thank you so much.

Thank you. There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to hand the floor back over to Mr. Gery Kalogiratos for any closing comments.

Thank you all, and all of this was a certain event that calls. We are looking forward to connecting for the next quarter. Thank you.

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you again for your participation.

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Clean Capital Energy Carriers Corp. Fourth Quarter 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. We have with us Today, Mr. Jerry Kalogiratos, Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Brian Gallagher, Executive Vice President, Investor Relations; and Mr. Nikos Tripodakis, Chief Commercial Officer.

[Operator Instructions]

I must advise you that this conference is being recorded today, Thursday, March 5, 2026.

Statements in today's conference call that are not historical facts including our expectations regarding the seller acquisition transactions their expected effects on this cash generation, equity returns and future debt levels, our ability to pursue growth opportunities, our expectations or objectives regarding future distribution amounts, or share buyback amounts dividend coverage, future earnings, future leverage, capital allocation as well as our expectations regarding market fundamentals and the employment of our vessels, including delivery dates, redelivery dates and charter rates may be forward-looking statements as such as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended.

These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could close the stated or forecasted results to be materially different from those anticipated. Unless required by law, we expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements whether because of future events, new information, a change in our views or expectations to conform to actual results or otherwise. We make no prediction or statement about the performance of our common shares.

I would now like to hand the call over to our speaker today, Mr. Brian Gallagher. Please go ahead.

Thank you, operator. Good morning or afternoon to wherever you are, and thank you for listening to the Capital Clean Energy Carrier's Q4 2025 Earnings Call. As a reminder, we'll be referring to the supporting slides available on our website as we go through today's presentation.

Let's start with the highlights on Slide 4. An exceptionally busy quarter has continued with subsequent events into the current quarter, but it's pleasing to report the companies continue to make progress on multiple fronts. The key highlights from Q4 was our contracting of 3 latest technology LNG carriers. This opportunistic transaction illustrated our capability to act with conviction and speed and capturing what we believe will be valuable and timely additions to our fleet. More details from Jerry on that later on.

Elsewhere, early on in the quarter -- current quarter, we welcome the Active into our fleet, the world's first 22,000 cubic meter liquid CO2 multi-gas carrier, but we also said goodbye to another container vessel as we pressed on with our focus on gas transportation. In terms of our governance and ongoing focus on sustainability, the company was pleased to gain accreditation from CDP in our first submission to that particular platform. Finally, the LNG shipping spot market had a robust if short-lived upturned during Q4 with freight rates touching $100,000 per day. This is an encouraging feature for the future development and potential earnings power from the sector, and there are some key underlying trends, which will require consideration and they'll be covered later on in the presentation.

We are acutely aware of the current and fast-moving dynamic in the Middle East, impacting LNG and gas shipping sectors, which are Head of Commercial, Nikos Tripodakis, will provide some thoughts on later on. And naturally, management will be available to take questions after the formal presentation.

Moving back to Q4 and our reporting net income from continued operations for the quarter came in at $28.4 million from which we fulfilled our commitment to a fixed distribution of USD 0.15 dividend per share to our shareholders, retaining the company record of distributing a cash dividend for every single quarter since our listing in March 2007.

With that, I'll hand it over to our Chief Executive, Jerry Kalogiratos to run through, firstly, the financial highlights.

Thank you, Brian, and good morning or afternoon to everyone listening in today. It has almost become routine to report further container sales, and the fourth quarter of 25% is no different. As Brian pointed out, we have now classified Buenaventura Express under discontinued operations due to its sale, which nevertheless had a full quarter before being delivered to its new owners in January. The sale of the Buenaventura represents the 14th container carrier sale in 24 months, consistent with the company's strategy to pivot to gas transportation. The classification of the Buenaventura Express under discontinued operations affected our results compared, for example, to the previous quarter. This leaves the company with just 1 container vessel. It continues to generate positive cash flows for the company as it is on the long-term charter with a blue-chip partner to 2033 and options to extend to 2039.

We have made significant progress in our pivot, but we have always remained focused on ensuring value creation for our shareholders. We will only look to sell the last container asset. If it is accretive this strategy has served us well with the 14 other vessels, and we will continue on the same path. The dividend payout remains a core component of the company's value proposition to shareholders. The $0.15 dividend was paid on February 12 to shareholders of record on February 3. This was the 75th consecutive quarter that the company has paid a cash dividend.

Moving now to the balance sheet on Slide 7. We closed the year with a solid cash position of $296 million, including restricted cash and the net leverage ratio just short of 49%. As mentioned earlier, we also finalized the sale of 13,700 TEU container vessel in early '26, continuing our disciplined capital recycling strategy. Finally, just a week ago, we issued a 200 million-euro bond listed at the AtenStock Exchange, further enhancing our balance sheet flexibility. We continue to work closely with different sources of finance and the funding of the 9 LNG carriers still due for delivery, and we are very encouraged with the progress of these discussions. We hope to be able to report much more on this front in the next quarterly call.

Moving to Slide 9. Our LNG fleet continues to provide long-term visibility and stability. We have 90 years of contracted backlog at an average of DCE of approximately 86,800 per day, representing $2.7 billion of contracted revenue. If all extension options are exercised, this increases to 123 years or approximately $3.9 billion in contracted revenues. I recently announced order for 3 new LNG care newbuilds shown at the bottom of this slide, positions us to benefit from increased LNG Cpi demand towards the end of the decade. We continue to be in constant alogue with counterparties regarding our LNG fleet in what has become increasingly a more active period market and looking for the right employment structure for our remaining 6 open new builds.

In terms of fleet update, we will have 4 upcoming dry docks for our LNG fleet. In the first quarter of this year, we have the Adamas. And in the next quarter, we expect to have the dry docking of the Arista House, Tatas and [indiscernible]. In terms of cash cost, the guidance remains the same as in previous quarters at $5 million all-in cost per dry dock and around 20, 25 days of hire. Importantly, we will welcome 2 more vessels during the second quarter of 2026, our second liquid C2 carrier and LPG carrier, the Amadeus at the end of April and also our first dual fuel 45,000 cubic medium LPG carrier various genes in early June.

Turning to the next slide. Funding of our newbuilding program is well supported. We have already paid a portion of the required CapEx supported by -- generated cash flows, asset monetization and attractive debt financing terms. As we progress through 2026 and '27, we expect CapEx to be mostly weighted towards the LNG carriers for which we assume on average approximately 70% debt financing. The picture that you see is before tapping into the proceeds of the EUR 250 million bond issue. This leads neatly to look briefly at the key events for the company during the quarter, namely the contracting of 3 new LNG carriers on Slide 11.

As mentioned earlier, we secured 3 state-of-the-art LNG carriers with deliveries scheduled of 1 vessel in the fourth quarter of '28 and 2 in the first quarter of '29. These vessels include enhancements to fuel efficiency, boil of rates as well as liquefaction capacity, placing them among the highest-performing LNG carriers globally. We secured the spares at HD Hyundai Samho in South Korea on attractive terms. The delivery profile is optimized for a market period where the order book looks particularly undersupplied in view of the anticipated demand giving us significant commercial optionality.

Now after quarter end, we delivered the world's first 22,000 cubic liquid CO2 multi-gas carrier, the Active. This vessel is capable of transporting liquid CO2, LPG and ammonia and other petrochemicals and remains fully competitive in the conventional semi ref gas market. The vessels already employed on a 6-month charter, transporting LPG, an optional extension, demonstrating immediate commercial demand. As mentioned earlier, we successfully raised last month EUR 250 million through a newly issued unsecured bond, take advantage of a favorable interest rate environment. After hedging the currency and interest rate exposure of the new bond, we expect the online cost to be approximately so 1 for $295 million in dollar terms. But to the process of the new bond will be used to refinance our outstanding bond of EUR 100 million -- EUR 150 million issued in 2021, maturing later this year.

The rest of the proceeds will be used to finance our newbuilding program and for general corporate purposes.

I would like now to turn to our Chief Commercial Officer, Nikos, who will run through our LNG market slides. I will then be available to answer your questions along with Nikos Brian at the end of the call. Nikos, over to you.

Thank you, Jerry, and good morning or afternoon, everybody. Currently, of course, the war in the Middle East and how it will affect the energy model. And in our case, the shipping market is in everyone's mind. I will come back to this at the end of my presentation. Please allow me to start with the main highlights of Q4, which has been the unexpectedly strong spot market.

As Slide 14 shows, spot rates rose strongly to exceed $100,000 a day in mid-December, the highest level of the past 2 years. An unexpected surge in LNG production from the U.S. pockets of East West arbitrars and logistical constraints led to an absorption of available tonnage and the significant increase in spot rates. This served as a stark reminder of the fragility of the LNG shipping supply-demand balance during winter months when modest changes in -- economics, production volumes or port and canal logistics can collectively have a disproportionate impact on freight markets. However, as we will see on Slide 15, all vessel types benefit in a similar way from a surge in spot rates.

Turning to Slide 15. As we can see on the left-hand side, we see the 5-year quarterly average freight rates up to 2024. What is interesting is that the charter rates for steam vessels during that period captured around 50% of the rate of a 2-stroke modern vessel. But in 2025, that percentage dropped to 20%, even though the market has been consistently lower compared to the 5-year average. What is also worth noting is that even though 2-stroke charter rates rose by approximately $32,000 a day on average through Q4, steam rates only rose about 7,000 a day and continue to trade below OpEx levels. This clearly indicates that 2 stroke vessels, like the 1 CCF owns and operate capture the lion's share of the benefits in a rising market, while older vessels remain unattractive as long as 2 stroke vessels are available even if the charter rate for 2 strokes is approximately 400% higher as it was during the Q4 of 2025.

This widening rate gap underscores the increasing obsolescence of older technology and supports our strategy for investing exclusively in modern high-efficiency LNG carriers.

Turning now to Slide 16. The challenging market conditions for older vessels described so far have led to 2025 becoming a record year in terms of scrapping with 61 vessels exiting the fleet. Looking at the age, the redelivery profile from current charters and the fact that these vessels would operate below their OpEx breakeven in the spot market, even when the spot market goes through its seasonal spikes, the commercial removal of those vessels either through laying up or scrapping becomes inevitable.

Our attention now turns to the other end of the spectrum and specifically new buildings on Slide 17. As we look at Slide 17, a clear pattern emerge in Q4 with an increase in ordering, something we were part of with a 3-vessel order. In December alone, there were almost as many orders placed as for the rest of the year combined, indicating greater confidence amongst the ship owners regarding the dynamics of the LNG market. This has led to a slight uptick in newbuilding prices as we can see in the right of Slide 17. We expect this trend to continue as limited yard capacity for deliveries in 2028 and 2029, meets the surge in demand for LNG carriers stemming from the doubling of U.S. LNG production from the U.S. This limited capacity for 2028 and 2029 provides a very good opportunity to look at the order book availability and CCEC's market share of open newbuildings.

Turning to Slide 18. It is demonstrated that out of the 30 new buildings in the order book, 6 of those or 20% are controlled by CCEC. This makes us the owner with the largest market share of the open order book and in prime position to capitalize from the increased demand expected in 2027 onwards as charter sick molded tonnage.

Moving on to Slide 19. We would like to summarize our view on the long-term supply and demand picture of LNG freight. As with any shipping segment, there are always a lot of cross current and moving parts. We have tried to incorporate the recent supply and demand developments on this chart. Firstly, to explain the chart, the orange dash line represents the maximum potential growth in demand for LNG carriers and global energy projects extending to 2032. The blue dash line represents the number of LNG vessels required based solely on those projects that have reached an FID status, which is a relatively conservative approach as we expect more projects to reach FID in the months to follow. The gray bar represents the gross number of LNG carrier deliveries expected on a cumulative basis year-on-year with the orange bars being the estimate from CCEC on LNG vessel removals.

The dark gray bars finally represent the net number between vessel deliveries and removals. In summary, we anticipate the LNG shipping market to reach an inflection point in late 2027 or early 2028 with new energy supply requiring a substantial number of additional vessels. Accounting for scrapping of older ships, demand is anticipated to outpace vessel supply, creating a constructive long-term outlook. Now as mentioned at the beginning of my presentation, we need to address the current situation in the Middle East. The U.S. Iran conflict following the coordinated U.S. Israel strikes on Iran on the 28th of February, has significantly increased geopolitical risk in the Persian Gulf and particularly around the strait of Hermosa a critical energy shipping checkpoint. Most commercial vessels are avoiding the area due to security concerns, missile and drone attacks, AIS interference and the withdrawal of more risk insurance.

This has disrupted significantly any normal shipping patterns and the flow of energy commodities and has created a situation where Western affiliated vessels faced particularly high risks and costs when transiting in the region. The conflict has major implications for the global LNG market as roughly 20% of the global LNG exports originate from the Arabian Gulf, mainly from Qatar -- further. Israel has shut down at least 2 major gas due to security concerns, potentially forcing Egypt and Jordan to increase imports by up to 65 cargoes per year to replace lost pipeline gas supply. Combined with the Arabian Gulf export disruptions and the withdrawal of more risk insurance for vessels operating in the region, the situation could significantly tighten global energy markets as a prolonged closure of the strait of -- will lead to increased competition for the limited flexible supply, mainly from the U.S. and result in significant price increases in gas worldwide.

Now the most important unknown right now is the duration of the conflict. We can place lost pipeline gas supply, combined with the Arabian Gulf export disruptions and the withdrawal of more risk insurance for vessels operating in the region, the situation could significantly tighten global energy markets as a prolonged closure of the strait of -- will lead to increased competition for the limited flexible supply, mainly from the U.S. and result in significant price increases in gas worldwide.

Now the most important unknown right now is the duration of the conflict. We cannot speculate on how long the situation will last, but the effect in the gas and shipping markets in less than a week are very clear. Global gas prices for the pro months have more than doubled at some point during this week with Asian gas prices combining a significant premium over TTS. The increase in global prices in combination with the surge in ton mile demand due to an open arbitrars to the East has led to our nonprecedented rise in spot charter rates from circa $40,000 a day last week to around $300,000 per day on a -- basis for March and April loadings at even rates above $100,000 a day for 12 months on modern vessels.

One thing is clear. the longer the situation continues, markets will price the risk accordingly and the rise in commodity prices will further support the rising freight rates.

This concludes our presentation for today, and happy to open the floor to any questions.

[Operator Instructions]

Our first question is from Alexander Bidwell with Webber Research & Advisory.

I just wanted to see if you guys could give a little bit more color on, I guess, the potential implications of this shutdown of Middle Eastern supplies on the carrier market. We've seen -- I guess, as you mentioned, we've seen spot rates climb pretty drastically over the last couple of days. But what is the -- I guess, the longer-term implications of having a significant amount of supply taken off-line.

It's probably more than million-dollar question right now, but we'll try to answer it in the best way we can. As we mentioned, the supply for Middle East mainly supplies Asian markets. And unlike what happened in 2022 when Russian gas flows to Europe were cut and Europe into place tight gas with LNG from the U.S. There is no way to replace this Qatar volumes in Asia. So the only way that Asia could replace this, Olivan fuel switching would be to increase the price. That would lead to an increased open arbitrars to the east and the market already now is undersupplied for vessels if this situation were to continue, i.e., an open arbitrage with healthy gas prices to the East. What would mean for freight rates I mean, we already saw the spike in the front, if this were to continue, you could expect term rates to rise significantly. Now how much is something that remains to be seen.

All right. And then just kind of switching gears. So I believe 1 container vessel left in the fleet. Can you give us a sense of how you're looking at disposal options and just a general idea of what that time line might be?

Yes. So we have been always quite opportunistic in the way that we have approached the sale of our container vessels and especially these ones, the last 3 that -- these last [indiscernible], the 13,000 EU containers, we have already sold 2 were down to 1. They have a long-term charter and good cash flow visibility, good counterparty. There -- the financing also on this vessel is less flexible than others. So while it's not impossible to transfer or sell this asset, it's more difficult because it has tax equity in the structure. So I think we're going to be quite opportunistic if we see a similarly attractive deal, we will look at selling the vessel or we might simply stick with it until closer to the end of the charter.

Again, we will be driven more by the opportunity and less by a specific time line to divest from this container. I mean we have sold already 14 out of the 15 we feel quite comfortable.

Our next question is from Jon Chappell with Evercore ISI.

The capital exposure to the conversation and what's happening today, it looks like the more meal becomes open later in '26, 1 newbuild delivers later this year. and 1 in early '27. So is it right to assume that this parabolic move in spot rates does not have any immediate term effect on you? And I guess the follow-on to that would be as some of these new builds become closer to the delivery date. And as mentioned, some of the time charter rates are moving up as well.

Is it kind of a wait and see how this plays out? Or is there any increased inquiry and opportunity to maybe time charter some of the newbuilds even at shorter duration to take it then, I hate to say and take advantage, but to take advantage of the of the move in the charter rates.

Let me comment on the first part, and then maybe Nikos can pick up the second part with regard to the long-term curve. But -- the -- you are right to point out that in terms of redeliveries, the first vessel that we have is the more in Q3, but we do have some of our newbuilds coming early in much earlier in Q3 and while some of them we have already have employment in place, we have flexibility in swapping this with other later sisters. So there is the potential for us if we see the market interest to be able to offer earlier positions very late Q2 or early Q3. .

I think it will very much depend on how long this lasts Nikos said, which -- and we don't have immense visibility here. Nikos, would you like maybe to say a few words as to how you see the long-term curve being affected right now?

Yes. So as mentioned, this all depends on how long the situation will last. We will need to make something very clear now. There have been a lot of charters out there that were happy to play the spot market given the arbitrage pointing to Europe and a sensible oversupply of vessels in the Atlantic. But now what this situation has created and the longer it lasts, it will make companies that use this strategy more aware and more eager to take the position is that a prolonged arbitraries to the East has made this market very tight. So -- the longer the situation lasts, more and more companies will try to secure shipping even at higher rates, just to be able to lift those volumes.

And we have already seen inquiries for terms for some of our new buildings, obviously, are not at the rates we mentioned for the spot market, but already at higher levels than what we saw let's say, 2 or 3 weeks ago. So it has certainly affected the market, but we need to see the situation last for a bit longer for dealers to be concluded in the 5, 7 years space.

Okay. And then maybe the terms are a little bit commercially sensitive, but I think it's super important in the context of trying to understand the new market for the LCO2, is there any way to kind of help frame out the charter rate that the active has for the 6 months and then maybe the extension? And then I guess the other thing I'd ask on the LCO2 is, I don't see the delivery schedule in the presentation or the press release anywhere. Just want to make sure that the delivery schedule is last presented was still the same for the remainder of this year and those ships going forward.

Yes, of course, Jon, yes, the table has not changed, deliveries have not changed. So as I said during my prepared remarks, we are expecting the next LCO2 hand the LPG carrier towards the end of April and the 45,000 cubic fuel [indiscernible] in early June. These are the next couple of deliveries and the delivery schedule for the rest remains as previously described.

Now in terms of the Active, the Active really went directly into the trade as a semi-ref LPG ammonia carrier. It's -- and I think this is how we should be thinking about it until we see a more mature LCO2 market. So in terms of numbers, the -- if you want to think about TC after the ballast days and repositioning from the shipyard into the trade, that's probably for the first 6 months, you can assume close to $21,000 per day. The rate was $25,000, but as I said, the repositioning was in on the first 6 months. And then there is an option for the charter if it's exercised than the headline rate is $32,000 per day. So assuming that option is exercised, the blended average, including repositioning is around $25,000, $26,000 per day for the whole year.

Our next question is from Liam Burke with B. Riley Securities.

Jerry, I know the timing is not great in light of the shortage of LNG carriers, but what is the general tenor of discussions on the future deliveries of the non-LNG carriers for longer-term charters?

Yes, this market is a shorter term market. So typically, there, you will find a lot of liquidity anywhere between 6 to 12 months. And then -- there is some demand in the 2- to 3-year type of periods occasionally 5 years. but definitely shorter than the 7, 10, 12 years or more that you see in the LNG market. But I think you could safely say that the most liquid part, the most volume is on the 6 to 12 months TCs.

The liquid part, okay. if you look on the longer durations that they're kicked around, is there a sufficient return on those rates? Or do you prefer to keep them in on the shorter 6 months to the year.

With the kind of rate that we see nowadays. I mean, since the delivery of the first vessel market has tightened both for handysize LPG carriers as well as for MGCs, I think the returns are quite decent. And if we see the opportunity, we will try to lock them in for longer. Market today for 45,000 cubic dual-fuel vessel it's probably somewhere around the $40,000 per day mark, give or take, which is quite decent returns.

[Operator Instructions]

Our next question is from Omar Nokta with Clean Securities.

Obviously, a lot of stuff I guess I just wanted to ask in terms of the developments in the Middle East, is there any of your vessels that are directly affected by this, specifically, say, the force majeure that was put in by Qatar Energy. I believe you might have 1 ship on contract with them. Does that at all affect the terms of the charter?

No. So far, we haven't been affected at all. all charters continue with their ongoing charter commitments, and we don't have any vessels in -- within the Gulf. So it's relatively smooth if you can describe it that way given the turmoil in the background.

Okay. And then just completely separate, just an accounting question. Just in terms of the remaining newbuild CapEx that's roughly that $2.4 billion. How much of that do you have secured in bank lines? And then how much are you intending to put in place?

So all the MDCs and LCO2s have been already financed -- and the -- we are in advanced discussions for the remaining LNG carriers as we typically do, you should expect that we will be financing the earlier deliveries and then wait out for later deliveries. I mean we're not going to finance everything this year, simply because we don't want to incur commitment fees. I expect next quarter, we will have a lot more news on the financing of the LNG carriers to be delivered this year and next. In terms of the breakdown, let me suit you an e-mail later on with the exact amounts.

There are no further questions at this time. I would like to turn the conference back over to Mr. Kalogiratos for closing remarks.

Thank you, operator, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today.

Thank you. This will conclude today's conference. You may disconnect at this time, and thank you for your participation.

Thank you for standing by, and welcome to the Capital Clean Energy Carriers Corp. Third Quarter 2025 Financial Results Conference Call. We have with us Mr. Jerry Kalogiratos, Chief Executive Officer; Mr. Brian Gallagher, Executive Vice President of Investor Relations; and Mr. Nikos Tripodakis, Chief Commercial Officer. [Operator Instructions] I must advise you that this conference is being recorded today, Thursday, October 30, 2025.

The statements in today's conference call that are not historical facts, including our expectations regarding solar acquisition transactions under expected effect on us, cash generation equity returns and future debt levels, our ability to pursue growth opportunities, our expectations or objectives regarding future distribution amounts, or share buyback amounts dividend coverage, future earnings, capital allocation as well as our expectations regarding market fundamentals and the employment of our vessels, including delivery dates, redelivery dates and charter rates may be forward-looking statements as such as defined in Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 as amended.

These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the stated or forecasted results to be materially different from those anticipated. Unless required by law, we expressly disclaim any obligation to update or revise any of these forward-looking statements, whether because of future events, new information, a change in our views or expectations to conform to actual results or otherwise. We make no prediction or statement about the performance of our common shares.

I would now like to hand the call over to our speaker today, Mr. Brian Gallagher. Please go ahead, sir.

Thank you, operator. Good morning or afternoon to you, wherever you are, and thank you for listening to the Capital Clean Energy Carriers Q3 2025 Earnings Call. As a reminder, we will be referring to the supporting slides available on our website as we go through today's presentation. So let's kick off with the highlights slide on Slide 4. Q3 2025 saw the company make significant progress across 3 fronts in achieving its strategic objectives. Firstly, we increased our charter coverage with another long-term time charter for up to 10 years on one of our LNG carriers currently under construction.

Secondly, we completed the sale of 1 of the 3 remaining container vessels under our ownership, leaving us now with only 2 container vessels, both of which are on long-term time charters. And lastly, we have now secured financing for all of our MGCs and LCO 2 multi-gas carriers, whose deliveries commence from January 2026 onwards. Our net income for the quarter from continued operations came in at $23.1 million, and I would like to note here that given the sale of the Manzanillo Express, the container vessel, we have now classified her under discontinued operations, so continued operations fleet refers to 3 -- sorry, 12 LNG carriers and 2 container vessels.

Our net income figure reflects the special surveys that 2 of our LNG carriers, 14% of our fleet undertook during the quarter. The company fulfilled its ongoing commitment to fixed distribution of USD 0.15 per shareholder -- per share, sorry, to shareholders, retaining the company record of distributing a cash dividend for every single quarter since our listing way back in March 2007. Our Head of Commercial, Nikos Tripodakis, will guide us through another long-term charter contract addition and the encouraging dynamics within the LNG market landscape during the quarter later on.

But I will now hand it over to our CEO, Jerry Kalogiratos, to take us through, firstly, the financial highlights.

Thank you, Brian, and good morning or afternoon to everyone listening in today. In terms of operational and financial performance, this has been a rather routine quarter. However, I would like to highlight, as Brian pointed out, that we have now classified the Manzanillo Express at our discontinued operations to bid sale, which nevertheless had the full quarter before being delivered to its new owners early in the fourth quarter. I should add here that this is the 13th container carrier sale in 24 months, consistent with the company's strategy to pivot to gas transportation.

Secondly, we reported the successful completion of our 2 special surveys during the quarter as our first 2 LNG carriers, the Aristos I and the Asterix I completed 5 years of service. This is an important milestone for CCC as it represents the first lens carrier special survey under our stewardship. I'm pleased to report both were completely successfully and ahead of schedule with a combined total of 38 days of hire for the 2 vessels and total cost of approximately $8.8 million or $4.4 million per vessel.

So both the reclassification of the Manzanillo Express under discontinued operations and the 2 special surveys affected our results compared, for example, to the previous quarter. Despite an ongoing capital investment program of over $2.3 billion in our new builds, the dividend payout remains a core component of the company's value proposition to shareholders. The $0.15 dividend will be paid on November 13 to shareholders on record on November 3. This will be the 74th consecutive quarter that the company has paid a cash dividend.

Moving now to the balance sheet on Slide 7. The key development here was a securing of financing for 2 liquid 2 carriers and multi-gas carriers and the 6 MDCs, which means that all 10 of our multigas carriers under construction have now secured debt funding as detailed in our earnings release. We will have more news on the financing of the 6 LNG carriers delivering in '26 and '27 in due course. And of course, I remind you that 3 of the LNG carriers have already secured long-term employment.

Our cash balance stood at a total of $352.2 million as of the end of the quarter. Our balance sheet remains strong with a sound net leverage ratio below 50%. You can see that our capital base continues to consolidate as we await the next schedule of ships to be delivered next year. Of our total debt, 79% is floating. Hence, looking ahead, we expect to benefit further now that the Fed has started cutting rates, including year-to-date quarter point cut.

Moving to Slide 9. It is important to highlight the evolution of this chart since the beginning of the year as we have made significant progress in securing employment for our newbuilding vessels despite the challenging market conditions. The latest long-term time charter we have announced today for 7 years with 3 1-year options thereafter. The employment commences in the first quarter of 2028, and we expect to trade the vessel on short or index-linked time charters between its scheduled delivery from the shipyard in the first quarter of 2027 and the commencement of its long-term charter.

I should add here that we have had a couple of questions already on the [indiscernible] being allocated as the LNG vessel for the new contract announced today. As we had also suggested this would be the vessel for the 2 period charters we announced with our first quarter results in May. All 6 of our newbuilds under construction have optionality for our customers, as previously disclosed, and the specific vessel will be selected as and when the charter starts. So we have 3 charters to allocate to 6 vessels, and we'll do so near over time.

And Slide 9 is illustrative of where we believe they will end up. Our average charter duration stands at 6.9 years across the fleet, and our LNG fleet showcases a fair period charter backlog of $2.8 billion of contracted revenue or 93 years and $4 billion of contracted revenue or 126 years if all options were to be exercised. To put this into context, in the fourth quarter of '24, we reported the firm charter backlog from our LNG fleet of $2.2 billion or 68 years. We continue to be in constant dialogue with counterparties regarding our LNG fleet in what has become increasingly a more active period market and looking for the right employment structure for our remaining open new builds.

Turning now to Slide 10 and looking at the contracted revenue base in more detail. Overall, when it comes to CCC, no single counterparty represents more than 19% of the $3 billion contracted revenue backlog. This diversification provides the company with a strong framework to build our gas transportation portfolio further with a mix of existing corporate relationships and new customers. I'm happy to disclose that the core party for latest contract award is a new name to our roster of energy majors, utilities and traders, thus diversifying further our customer base.

I would like to finish off this section now with a quick look at our new building CapEx program under expectations with regard to its financing described with more detail on Slide 11. We ended the third quarter with $332 million of cash on our balance sheet. This cash level is before we received the net process from a latest container sale of $26 million. From our newbuilding program of $2.3 billion, we have already paid advances by quarter end to the tune of $580 million. Assuming we draw the base financing amount for our new builds in line with the financial security for the multi-gas carriers, and the financing assumptions for LNG carriers as outlined on Slide 11, we will be left after the delivery of all of our new builds with a net equity inflow of $216 million. That is without taking into account any cash flow generation from our existing fleet.

I would like to turn now to our Chief Commercial Officer, Nikos Tripodakis, who will run through our LNG market slides. I will return with a summary and then be available to answer your questions along with Nikos and Brian at the end of the call. Nikos, over to you.

Thank you, Jerry, and good morning or afternoon, everybody. I would like to address 3 main subjects today. Firstly, a strong rise in the expected demand for LNG shipping on the back of an unprecedented surge in LNG supply growth. Secondly, the recent ban of [indiscernible] LNG from the European Union and the implication of this ban on the demand for energy shipping. And finally, how scrapping and commercial removals of older vessels will facilitate the market rebalancing towards 2027 and 2028.

Starting with Slide 13. We can see that the acceleration in the LNG growth that we commented on during the Q2 earnings call has got a further pace during Q3. There has been a surge in LNG projects reaching final investment decisions, that is LNG projects, which have secured firm financing and are moving ahead with the construction of their LNG production facilities. Three of these FIDs alone came during Q3. In total, demand for LNG carriers from the 7 projects that have achieved FID in 2025 is ranging approximately between 70 to 120 [indiscernible] assumptions as highlighted on Slide 13.

The ignition for this growth has come from the Trump administration since January, and we anticipate even more FIDs to be achieved in the coming months, which will in turn create further demand for shipment. Now turning to another important development within our wider sector, the intention of the EU to band Roshan LNG imports. We can see on Slide 14 that recently as part of its 19 [indiscernible] package, the EU announced plans to bring forward the ban of Russian LNG in the beginning of 2027 from the previous target date of 2028.

From an energy rate perspective, in simple terms, this would require a replacement of a relatively short-haul voyage of 2,500 nautical miles from Yamal to Rotterdam with one of approximately double its length from the U.S. Gulf. According to analysts, Russian LNG is likely to slow East with a mix of transit in winter and summer. Overall, it is estimated that global energy shipping ton mile demand would gain approximately 2% compared to 2024 levels. Clearly, there are additional considerations that play here, but overall, this development should be net positive for LNG freight.

Moving now on the supply side developments. We'll turn on Slide 15. We can see that the main development has been the record level of vessels removed with 14 vessels sold for scrap so far this calendar year. This is illustrated on the right-hand side of Slide 15, while the average age of LNG carriers exiting the fleet was 26 years, a new record low and a continuous downward trend since 2022. If we focus on the left-hand side of the Slide 15, we can see the rising numbers of older vessels that are idling and not such effectively commercially removed from the market.

Since the second quarter, there has been a sustained rise in steam and tri-fuel vessels standing idle, around 16% to 18% of steam vessels, which is approximately 35 ships are sitting idle, which means that are nearly 1/5 of all steam vessels stand without long term or spot employment. Owners of these vessels have been choosing to idle or lay up rather than sell these vessels for scrap in an effort to exhaust any commercial opportunities that may arise, but it seems almost unavoidable for the majority of those vessels that after a sustained period of idleness, the lack of commercial opportunities in combination with an impending cost to special survey will lead to even more demolition sales.

The trend set in 2025 is very strong, and we feel that it is set to continue. In addition to the increasing number of vessels idling, we can also see the pipeline of vessels that are redelivering from long-term charters in Slide 16. Other chart shows, according to brokers, 816 LNG carriers are due to come off long-term time charter contracts between now and 2030, which reflects approximately 45% of the entire steam fleet. And this pipeline of redeliveries of tin vessels from long-term contracts in combination with the increasing numbers of older tonnage approaching the fourth and fifth special surveys as shown in Slide 17, and enhances the argument around the inevitability of the removal of these vessels.

On the left-hand side of Slide 17, we can see that an increasing number of vessels are entering the age range for their fifth or sixth special surveys. Some of these vessels may still be on long-term charter at the time of those special surveys. -- but the combination of the age profile, as shown in Slide 17, the redelivery profile as shown in Slide 16, and the ramping up of idling as shown on Slide 15 and in the overall picture that these vessels are reaching the twilight of their commercial life and utility in the LNG market.

Moving on to Slide 18. We summarize our view on the long-term supply and demand picture for LNG freight. As with any shipping segment, there are always a lot of cross currents and moving parts, but we have tried to incorporate the recent supply and demand developments on this chart. First, let me explain the chart, the orange dash line represents the maximum potential growth in LNG demand for LNG carriers in view of global energy projects extending to 2032, let's say, our high case demand scenario. The blue dash line represents a number of LNG vessels required based solely on those projects that have reached FID status, a relatively conservative approach as we expect many more projects to reach FID in the months to follow. The dark gray bar represents a gross number of LNG carrier deliveries expected on a cumulative basis year-on-year, while the orange bars being the estimate from CCC on LNG vessels removal.

Lastly, the dark blue bars represent the net number between vessel deliveries and removals. So overall, we expect to see the inflection point in the LNG vessel supply moving from surplus to deficit sometime between 2027 and 2028. And with the potential that this could even be earlier than that, given the trends outlined earlier.

I will now hand the presentation back to Jerry for a summary of the third quarter and the company position going forward.

Thank you, Nikos. Now focusing on our present and future fleet on Slide 20 provides an opportunity to round up where CCC is and our direction going forward. We continue to be opportunistic about fixing long-term employment for our 3 open new build LNG carriers as there are increasingly fewer uncommitted LNG newbuildings available at a time when we see growing activity in the LNG industry with both new SPAs being signed and the FID is moving ahead. As the slide clearly shows the ticks against its vessel indicates those with term employment.

Remember, just 3 quarters ago, we had 6 open LNG carriers and own a total of 8 containers. Today, we only have 3 uncommitted LNG carriers under construction and just 2 containers remaining in our portfolio. Our 10 multigas carriers are complementary to our LNG portfolio and leverage to the energy transition. We expect to have more color with regard to the employment closer to their delivery.

Finally, our 2 legacy container vessels are well underpinned on long-term charters, potentially out to the end of the next decade, but provide optionality for CCC going forward. In short, in all parts of the CCC fleet, we have focused and are executing the chosen strategy in its specific area.

So turning to the final slide, #21. And looking forward, CCCs expect to control the largest LNG to straw carrier fleet available on the U.S. Stock Exchange in addition to the other 10 multi-gas vessels. The company has considerable contract coverage of 6.9 years already and strong visibility on cash flows while we believe that we have an advantage over many of our peers in only being invested in the latest generation gas vessels.

That concludes the prepared remarks by management for the third quarter of 2025. And with that, I will now pass it back to the operator for questions.

[Operator Instructions] And the first question comes from the line of Alexander Bidwell with [indiscernible] Research and Advisory.

Taking a look at the new build charter, our math has shown the rate to be roughly in line with the 2 other charters you signed earlier this year that sitting somewhere in -- how do you feel these rates sit compared to the general mortgage appetite? And do you see any room for long-term rates to push up or down?

The first comment is that this latest charter is higher than the previous 2. We feel that this is on the high end of where the market has been over the past 4 to 5 months? And in general, it is in line with the view that have been consistent throughout the year that term rate, 7 years plus or 5 years plus for this latest generation 2 stock vessels from 2027 and 2028 are in the very high 80s to low 90s range. So given the amount of demand that's coming from FID projects and all these new volumes that are expected to hit the market by the end of the decade, we feel that this has been sort of the low end of where the rates will be in the future.

And for later deliveries, it will be even stronger.

All right. Thank you for the color there. And then just taking a look at the relationship between carriers and new liquefaction capacity shown on Slide 18. So I believe last week, Qatar pushed back its guidance for the North Field expansion by about 6 months. That shifts about 32 million tons of production to the right. So looking at delays or potential delays to some of these LNG projects that are under construction, what sort of impact should we expect to see on the balancing of the carrier market?

And is there anything we could see owners do to help, I guess, mitigate the effects, say, sliding deliveries for new builds back a little bit to try to align with when some of these volumes come online.

As far as [indiscernible] are concerned in these projects, I can say that most of these delays have already been priced in. So we have seen the biggest delay in the market has come from the buyer administration posing the permits on this LNG facilities and production permits. Now with the Trump administration, there has been this resumption in permits and FIDs. So any delay that we should have hedged ourselves against have already taken place. We don't expect too many delays moving forward. Most of these projects will start in a range of 2028 to 2030.

We are very positioned for that. And what we can do, just to answer your question in the interim is either secure very short-term China charters 1 to 2 years just to get redelivery of the vessels back the part of the curve that we feel is significantly short, which is 28, 29 onwards or just go for straight disease from '27 and '28, it's always an exercise for us, and we just choose whatever we feel is the best choice at the time.

The next question comes from the line of Omar Nokta with Jefferies.

I just maybe wanted to -- I just want to ask about the market. And I think maybe, Jerry, you comments just now. I want to make sure I understood or heard correctly, that this latest charter that you've entered into or that you've announced today, that one is that to be basically higher than the 2 that you fixed, say, 6 months ago?

Yes. That was Nikos. But yes, indeed, this charter is higher than the previous 2 charters, but do not also be slightly later delivery.

Right. Okay. I guess I just wanted to ask kind of it feels like the -- when we look at charter rates, especially spot rates, obviously, have been very weak. So it's been -- when we look at it from a big picture perspective, it seems that the markets quite soft and yet you're able to still secure contracts, even though as you say it's a later delivery, it feels like the charter rates are holding up much more firmly. It feels like it wasn't like that, say, perhaps the last downturn we saw in LNG shipping where almost like long-term contracts, maybe were no bid perhaps. What's different this time around where you can have a soft market today and yet still a very resilient term charter market?

The very accurate question. It's sort of a power book that's unique in the LNG industry. And I think this comes from a combination of 2 things, mainly the oversupply of the current market and the trading economics which favor deliveries into Europe from the U.S., so shorter ton miles and an oversupplied spot market. along with all the steam carriers and the tri-fuel vessels, the vessels that are more eager to secure employment and thus push the market down. And then on the other hand side, you have the exact opposite in a sense, which is a market from 2027, 2028, where you see this 50% increase in global energy trade and those volumes will need vessels to transport them efficient vessels that are in line with the latest regulatory requirements and emission controls and all that.

And there are just not enough vessels for that part of the decade. So on the prompt, there's an oversupplied market, along with inefficient ships. And on the back end of the curve, back end, let's say, '27, '28, you have this significantly undersupplied market given the amount of volume that is hitting the water. So everybody can see that. This is why charters are still paying levels that are 3 or 4x higher than the spot market. They do the analysis as well. But that is the summary. The market is undersupplied in terms of efficient tonnage. Everybody can see that. The spot market is oversupplied, and it all comes down to when this transition will take place. And our view is that will take place in 2027, 2028.

Yes, that makes sense. And clearly, as you're highlighting in the slides, '27, '28 being the inflection point, it's interesting to see the market actually priced accordingly as opposed to wait till we get there. And then maybe just a quick follow-up. Just in terms of, say, the spot market. Obviously, it's evolved in recent years to being -- perhaps maybe a bigger percentage of the overall trade, but what's your guess or what's your estimate, what you would say the start market represents in terms of total LNG shipping?

Very small amount. Now the exact percentage, I would guess, is lower than 15% to 20%, I would say, of the vessels on the water are trading in the spot market. It has become more liquid definitely as the total number of vessels on the water are increasing, but it is still not liquid enough in terms of -- if you compare it against the tanker segment or the dry segment. And it mainly affects older tonnage, steam vessels and 5-year vessels because the latest technology vessels like the ones we control are very attractive charters for long-term TCs, and they can actually base the economics with the most efficient vessels.

[Operator Instructions] And the next question comes from the line of Liam Burke with B. Riley Securities.

Jerry, this sounds like nitpicking, but you do have 1 vessel coming off charter in '26. There have been discussions -- I mean, how are those discussions gone in terms of renewing on a longer-term basis?

Let me pass this on to Nikos.

What we can share for now is that we have mostly been turning down for this vessel. We have had a range of discussions from short-term time charters, 1 to 2 years on either floating or fixed rate. Our view is that we will not have any issues whatsoever in securing employment for this vessel. It just comes down to making sure we secure the right type of employment and get the redeliveries we want for potentially in 2029 and then capitalize further on the tightness of the market. So we still have 1 year to make a decision on that. But yes, we will feel confident about this.

Great. And Jerry, you mentioned on the multigas carriers that you'll be able to give us some color on the potential charters in the future. But what is your -- I mean, in the early discussions, what is your sense of the interest there?

So the -- really, the first vessel that you -- is in January are handy -- 2,000 cubic multi-gas carrier, liquid share 2 carrier. As we have discussed also in previous calls, this is really a sophisticated semihandy LPG carrier. And of course, it can transport [indiscernible] as well as LPG, ammonia and petrochemical cargoes. It offers really very strong operational flexibility due to specification, it's quite a unique vessel, which will allow efficient performance across a wide range of trades and cargo types and already, we can see that charters are interested in that flexibility.

So in terms of this market, which is really -- I think next time we will have our quarterly earnings call, this vessel will be delivered to us all going well because its delivery is due in very early January. This market -- this vessel will trade in the semi ref segment, which currently is showing solid momentum despite the broader macro volatility. So a combination of specific LPG projects as well as sustained activity in the petchem parcel trades has been keeping tonnage in this segment were balanced and utilization quite high.

And as a result, it has been supporting firm and healthy freight levels. So most requirements at present are in the 4 to 12 month range. With TCE levels generally ranging from just below mid-900s, this is -- these vessels are on per month basis up to around $1 million per month depending on terms of trade. So I think this is the kind of duration and TCE rates that you should expect always subject, of course, to market developments until delivery because this is these type of vessels are fixed much closer to their window of availability unlike LNG carriers, which can be fixed years in advance.

And the next question comes from the line of Clement Molins with Value Investor's Edge.

You talked about the move -- you talked about the EU's move to fast track the ban on rational NG, but could you provide some commentary on whether we should expect an impact on the LNG market from recent sanctions by the U.S. on both [indiscernible]

Personally, I don't think there should be any additional impact because already all major LNG projects with the exception of Yamal have been sanctioned. So we shouldn't expect at least any direct impact. If anything, we have seen lately a bit of a trade looking between with Russian LNG being shipped from [indiscernible] NG 2 as well as [indiscernible] to China on dark fleet vessels. I think by -- we might see more of that if you push this in that direction. But I don't think there is a U.S. sanctions will be affecting directly the trade.

There have been some discussions from what we hear in Asia especially Japan, who have been importing LNG from the Sakhalin project. There has been some push from the U.S. to import more from U.S. projects rather than Russia. That would be, of course, fantastic for the market, that would be long-haul trade as opposed to a very short haul trade. But it remains to be seen how this will develop going forward.

That's helpful. And this one is a bit more on the strategy side. You've been clear your remaining container ships are up for sale at the right price. But is there any appetite to look for incremental acquisitions, be it on new builds or secondhand assets?

I think if you look back at the CapEx slide, we discussed. You can see that we have quite significant CapEx moving ahead. That's on Slide 11. But at the same time, if you look at our cash position and the fact that after every vessel has been delivered on the back of rather, I would say, conservative financing assumptions, we will have a net equity inflow well in excess of $200 million before we account for cash flow generation from the fleet.

That means that by the end of our newbuilding program, we will have potentially a good cash position to look again at further acquisitions and growth. I think it's too early to discuss growth as it's important for us to secure more employment and more visibility. We are doing this as you can see almost every quarter, we are delivering on that side. And then as we have a more stable footing in terms of our new builds, then we can also look at more acquisitions. I mean, as you can tell from our view on the market, we think that in the medium to long term, this is -- the LNG market is expected to be sort of ships somewhere between 2027, 2028 inflection point, and then we will end the number of vessels.

The more months that go by and orders are not being placed in shipyards, the potentially -- the tighter the market is going to be going forward in 2 or 3 years from now. So I think we want to take advantage of this tightness that we see going forward. But at the same time, we want to make sure that we have -- we are -- we have covered our base, and we are on a stable footing.

There are no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the call back to Mr. Jerry Kalogiratos for closing remarks.

Thank you, operator, and thank you all for joining us today.

This concludes today's conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.