Hong Kong-listed China Development Bank Financial Leasing (CDBL) has invested USD 363.8 million in two 162,000 cbm ice Class 1A LNG carrier vessels.

The bank entered into the sale and leaseback transaction on December 15, through its two wholly-owned subsidiaries CDBL Ocean and CDBL Planet, which are principally engaged in ship leasing business.

The ships will be leased back to their undisclosed charterer on a 12-year period, the bank said, starting from the vessel delivery which is scheduled for January 2018.

The charterer is said to be a shipping company.

Once the charter expires, the charterer is obliged to buy back the ships.

As disclosed, the LNG carriers have a market value of USD 428 million.

Furthermore, the vessels recorded a loss of USD 12.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, and a profit of USD 1.44 million for the year ended December 31, 2016.

CDBL noted that the total lease interest from the deal is estimated to reach USD 150.4 million, while the total rent is worth USD 514.28 million.