Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

16.  Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments under Contracts for Ballast Water Management Systems Purchases

We had contractual commitments to purchase ballast water management systems as of:

	December 31, 2021
Less than one year	$	405,030
Total	$	405,030

Commitments under Bareboat Charter Header Agreement

On March 31, 2021, we entered into a thirteen-year bareboat charter agreement for a newbuilding dual-fuel VLGC that is expected to be delivered from Kawasaki Heavy Industries in March 2023. The structure of the financing of the newbuilding is analogous to that of our Japanese Financings in which a third-party will purchase the vessel and from whom we will bareboat charter the vessel. As part of the agreement, we control the building of the vessel and the use of the vessel after it is delivered. The vessel will be built to our specifications; we will supervise the building of the vessel to meet these specifications; and we will technically and commercially manage the vessel after its delivery. Under the agreement, we had commitments of $24.0 million of predelivery costs as well as the cost of additional features to meet our specifications and supervision costs for an aggregate total of approximately $25.0 million. As of December 31, 2021, we had approximately $9.0 million of commitments under the agreement outstanding that we expect to settle with an installment payment during the year ending March 31, 2023. Construction of the vessel commenced in December 2021.

Operating Leases

We had the following commitments as a lessee under operating leases relating to our United States, Greece, United Kingdom, and Denmark offices:

	December 31, 2021
Less than one year	$	217,385
Total	$	217,385

Time Charter-in

During the nine months ended December 31, 2021, we time chartered-in three newbuilding dual-fuel Panamax LPG vessels with purchase options that are scheduled to be delivered in the second and third calendar quarters of 2023 for a period of seven years each and also time chartered-in a VLGC for one year that was delivered to us in October 2021. We had the following time charter-in commitments relating to VLGCs:

	December 31, 2021
Less than one year	$	18,119,893
One to three years		61,293,000
Three to five years		64,080,000
Thereafter		99,710,000
Total	$	243,202,893

Fixed Time Charter Contracts

We had the following future minimum fixed time charter hire receipts based on non-cancelable long-term fixed time charter contracts:

	December 31, 2021
Less than one year	$	19,608,078
One to three years		2,150,000
Total	$	21,758,078

Other

From time to time, we expect to be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of business, principally personal injury and property casualty claims. Such claims, even if lacking in merit, could result in the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources. We are not aware of any claim other than that described below, which is reasonably possible and should be disclosed or probable and for which a provision should be established in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

In January 2021, subsequent to the delivery of one of our VLGCs on time charter, a dispute arose relating to the vessel’s readiness to lift a cargo scheduled by the charterer. The claim was settled for $4.0 million during the three months ended December 31, 2021.