The global fleet of LNG carriers is expected to be in constant growth, following the increased orders in recent years in new tonnage, a sample of shipowners’ expectations for an upgraded role of fuel in the shipping industry.
According to a VesselsValue analysis, the order book has expanded considerably over the last five years. Specifically, this year it “climbed” to 73 new buildings from just eight in 2016.
This, combined with the few sales of LNG carriers for scrap, creates the conditions for fleet growth. In particular, seven LNG carriers were dumped this year for $ 124.5 million. In total, over the next four years, 172 new steamers are expected to be delivered to shipowners.
“Environmental concerns are a key element in increasing the size of the LNG carriers’ fleet. These ships appear to have a promising future, as natural gas is a clean energy source,” said VesselsValue analysts.
“Supported by sound infrastructure, LNG provides a powerful short-term method of reducing carbon emissions pending reliable and available green energy sources,” they added.
The Greek fleet
The Greeks and the Japanese have the largest and most expensive fleets in the world. In particular, there are 142 LNG carriers in the water, of Japanese interests, worth $ 18.4 billion. Respectively, the “Greeks” manage 115 LNG carriers, the value of which reaches 19.8 billion dollars.
With fares in the spot rising significantly, the value of the Greek fleet in the LNG market has increased by $ 2 billion since the beginning of the year.
The study of VesselsValue includes the ten largest companies with a fleet of LNG carriers. Among them are three Greek ones, Maran Gas by Maria Angelikoussi, Dynagas by George Prokopiou and GasLog by Peter Libanos.
The Greeks invested massively in new LNG carriers this year, placing expensive orders in Asian shipyards. A recent example is GasLog, which ordered four LNG carriers with a capacity of 174,000 cubic meters each at the South Korean shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.
The delivery of the steamers is scheduled for 2024 and 2025. The price was not known, but the construction of a ship of these specifications currently costs more than $ 200 million.
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Source From: Capital
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