Some 163 liquefied natural gas transport vessels were ordered from Asian sites in 2022
by Jean-Michel Bezat
We rub our hands on the South Korean, Chinese and Japanese shipyards: commands of ships carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) flocked, in 2022, at an unprecedented rate. They reached the number of 163 tankers, indicates the refinitiv cabinet, more than a doubling compared to 2021, already flourishing. In total, more than 200 methanmen are under construction in the dry holds of Asia, and the demand is such that the charter rates can curl the $ 500,000 (465,000 euros) per day, according to the maritime freight stock market, Baltic Exchange.
The South Korean projects (Daewoo Shipbuilding, Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, etc.), which represent 70 % of the world market, logically won two-thirds of orders in 2022. They are now running at full capacity and Complete for three years. The postponement on Chinese sites, where prices are lower, is made difficult by their own engorgement. Added to this is the price of steel, which increased sharply between April 2021 and spring 2022, and the shortages of skilled labor, in a sector where technological expertise is important. All this brought the average cost of ships of 200 million to 250 million dollars.
Their construction for three to four years, they will not be delivered before 2026, to respond to a new offer of LNG from the United States, Australia and Qatar, the three largest producers in the world. But the trend is there, which shows that the gas begins to dethrone the oil king, including at sea: in 2025, maritime experts believe that the fleet of Lniers could be more important than that of the “very wide crude carriers”, these Some 830 supertankers carrying crude.
China, Japan and South Korea, first consumers
It is first the new development projects for the colossal Qatari reserves of the North Field, in the Arab-Persian Gulf, which explain this need for Lightners, the largest of which can transport up to 270,000 cubic meters (M
On the demand side, growth cannot be denied in Asia, where China, Japan and South Korea are the first consumers, while India projects the construction of a good ten terminals of terminals ‘import. In Europe, consumption has increased sharply since the drying up of Russian supplies linked to the war in Ukraine, also explaining the growing need of Lniers. The twenty-seven will have to replace the 155 billion cubic meters of Russian methane (40 % of their consumption), so far transported by the pipelines, the pipelines leaving from Norway and Algeria cannot compensate for such a loss.
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