LNG tanker surplus sinks charter rates by 46%
Charter rates for liquefied natural gas tankers transporting spot shipments of the fuel have fallen 46 per cent in the past year because of a ship surplus and lower demand for LNG in Asia.
Daily rates to rent an LNG carrier have fallen to US$43,000 from US$79,000 in August, Debbie Turner, director of LNG at BS Energy Services Ltd, said from London on Tuesday. There are 19 LNG vessels, each with about 147,000 cubic metres in capacity, idling amid a lack of cargoes.
A shortage of contractors and soaring raw-material costs have delayed LNG projects, cutting demand for tankers that have been built to transport the cargoes.
'There's ample availability of vessels for spot trade,' Divay Goel, director of Drewry Maritime Services Ltd, a UK based shipping consultant, said in an interview yesterday from Singapore. 'There's no product available.'
Charter rates have declined since August because 38 vessels were delivered from September until the end of June while there were delays at projects in Trinidad, Nigeria, Norway and Qatar, Edward Watson, a shipbroker with BS Energy, said on Tuesday from London.
Supplies are limited for some of the 270 carriers in the market today because of such delays, Mr Watson said. Yards have orders for 118 new ships.
Most of the LNG carriers are chartered at US$60,000 to US$70,000 a day on a term basis for between 15 years and 25 years, Mr Goel said.
Companies rarely order ships dedicated to spot trades unless they have access to supplies.
Qatar, the world's biggest LNG producer, has received deliveries for some of the 45 tankers ordered from three South Korean shipyards while the LNG production lines are being built.
The ships, each capable of carrying more than 200,000 cubic metres, are among the world's biggest LNG tankers. The tankers will ship supplies from six new production lines, or trains, of 7.8 million tonnes each.
Shipping companies may find it more profitable to invest in a Capesize carrier, which transports dry bulk including coal, because at half the price of an LNG vessel, the daily charter rate is about US$300,000, Mr Goel said.
Norway's Snohvit LNG project, Trinidad's Atlantic LNG new production line and Nigeria's new production line at the Bonny LNG plant are facing slower-than-expected increases in output, while Qatar's new lines are delayed.
Daily rates to rent an LNG carrier have fallen to US$43,000 from US$79,000 in August, Debbie Turner, director of LNG at BS Energy Services Ltd, said from London on Tuesday. There are 19 LNG vessels, each with about 147,000 cubic metres in capacity, idling amid a lack of cargoes.
A shortage of contractors and soaring raw-material costs have delayed LNG projects, cutting demand for tankers that have been built to transport the cargoes.
'There's ample availability of vessels for spot trade,' Divay Goel, director of Drewry Maritime Services Ltd, a UK based shipping consultant, said in an interview yesterday from Singapore. 'There's no product available.'
Charter rates have declined since August because 38 vessels were delivered from September until the end of June while there were delays at projects in Trinidad, Nigeria, Norway and Qatar, Edward Watson, a shipbroker with BS Energy, said on Tuesday from London.
Supplies are limited for some of the 270 carriers in the market today because of such delays, Mr Watson said. Yards have orders for 118 new ships.
Most of the LNG carriers are chartered at US$60,000 to US$70,000 a day on a term basis for between 15 years and 25 years, Mr Goel said.
Companies rarely order ships dedicated to spot trades unless they have access to supplies.
Qatar, the world's biggest LNG producer, has received deliveries for some of the 45 tankers ordered from three South Korean shipyards while the LNG production lines are being built.
The ships, each capable of carrying more than 200,000 cubic metres, are among the world's biggest LNG tankers. The tankers will ship supplies from six new production lines, or trains, of 7.8 million tonnes each.
Shipping companies may find it more profitable to invest in a Capesize carrier, which transports dry bulk including coal, because at half the price of an LNG vessel, the daily charter rate is about US$300,000, Mr Goel said.
Norway's Snohvit LNG project, Trinidad's Atlantic LNG new production line and Nigeria's new production line at the Bonny LNG plant are facing slower-than-expected increases in output, while Qatar's new lines are delayed.