Golar LNG has acquired the 2013-built LNG carrier Grace Dahlia from Japan's NYK Line, securing the donor vessel for its fourth floating LNG conversion and completing a key element of its $2.45bn expansion programme. No purchase price was disclosed. The 177,427 cu m Grace Dahlia will be converted into the 3.5m tonnes per annum MKII FLNG ordered at China's CIMC Raffles in August, giving the unit roughly 20% more LNG storage than Golar's first MKII design, FLNG Esperanza, which is already under conversion at the same Yantai yard. The Grace Dahlia will be converted alongside Esperanza, with yard delivery of the fourth FLNG scheduled by the end of 2029. Golar is pitching the unit as the earliest available new FLNG capacity globally and is in advanced discussions over long-term employment. Built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries at Sakaide in 2013, the 300-metre Grace Dahlia is a Moss-type carrier with four spherical tanks and reheat steam turbine propulsion. The fourth FLNG follows Golar's EPC contract with CIMC Raffles, confirmed in August on a fully delivered basis, at the time without a named donor vessel. According to TrustedDocks orderbook data, the EPC contract with CIMC Raffles was signed on 20 August 2026 and reported the same day, with the single FLNG unit built around PRICO liquefaction technology and a delivery window running through the end of 2029. Golar already operates or has committed two FLNGs to long-term work: Gimi, on a 20-year BP contract at Greater Tortue Ahmeyim off Mauritania and Senegal, and Hilli, currently undergoing upgrade work in Singapore ahead of a 20-year Argentina deployment starting next year. Esperanza, being converted from the former carrier Fuji LNG, is due for completion in late 2027 before a 20-year charter with Southern Energy in Argentina. The fourth unit will lift Golar's controlled liquefaction capacity above 12 mtpa, about 40% higher than before the expansion, as the company sold its last conventional LNG carrier in 2025 after five decades in LNG shipping.