European maritime classification society DNV said seven liquefied natural gas-powered ships were ordered in May and added that there could be a coming shortage of LNG bunkering ships as Northwest European bunkering prices continued to ease leading to market growth in the Dutch port of Rotterdam and elsewhere.
DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insight (AFI) platform, listed 19 vessels with alternative fuel propulsion ordered in May, seven for LNG and 12 methanol-fuelled vessels.
“So far this year the total order figure for alternative fuel vessels stands at 73,” said DNV.
The AFI platform also tracks battery installations for ships, through collaboration with the Maritime Battery Forum and reported that the official count of orders for vessels with battery power has passed 1,000.
“In May container vessels and car carriers continued to dominate the orders for ships equipped to use alternative fuels,” said Martin Wold, Principal Consultant in DNV’s Maritime Advisory business.
“Following the normalisation of gas prices the LNG bunkering market has now returned to full strength and we see a potential shortage of LNG bunker vessel capacity from 2025, and for some locations and periods this may occur even sooner,” stated Wold.
There are currently 399 LNG-fuelled vessels in operation worldwide and a further 512 ships are on order for delivery in the years to 2028.
Some 190 of these orders are for LNG-powered containerships and a further 122 vessels are Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTCs), while oil and chemical tankers are in the third-highest segment and the fourth-highest segment is for bulk carrier newbuilds.
LNG-fuelled tankers
There are 39 LNG-powered crude oil tankers on order, 25 cruise ships and 20 tugs, 11 RoPax vessels as well as single-figure numbers for car and passenger ferries, general cargo ships, offshore supply ships and fishing vessels.
This DNV data does not include smaller inland vessels and barges that are part, for example, of the Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp (ARA) refining hub transportation in northwest Europe or trading on major European rivers.
LNG bunkering fuel costs in Rotterdam have declined since the start of the year.
LNG fuel at Rotterdam was priced at the start of June 2023 at $546 per tonne compared with $814 per tonne at the start of May and $1,392 per tonne at the start of January 2023.
Among other emissions-reducing fuels, the price of Ultra Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (ULSFO) at the Dutch port actually rose to $573.26 per tonne at the start of June, up from $567.16 per tonne at the start of May, but down from $639.82 per tonne at the beginning of 2023.
