LNG

Of the top ship-owning nations, the Greeks continue to outperform the nation’s size with a fleet ranked third globally behind Japan and China respectively in both the number of vessels and the total value, though Greece’s fleet value has been augmented by an increasing number of quality LNG carriers.

Teekay Tankers, the oil and products shipping arm of Teekay Corp. and affiliate of Teekay LNG, said the company had made extensive preparations to meet the International Maritime Organization cap on sulfur emissions set to come into force on January 1.

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) announced today that it had won contracts for 10 LNG-fuelled Aframaxes valued at KRW751.3 bill ($601 mill) from an Oceania-based shipowner.

Sovcomflot Group, the Russian fleet owner, said it signed an agreement with ship fuel provider, Gazprom Neft Marine Bunker, to cooperate on bunkering operations for ships powered by liquefied natural gas.

Sovcomflot, the Russian shipping line with 14 LNG carriers and two others on order, has reported a rise in first-quarter time-charter revenues and turned a profit as it also introduced LNG-powered vessels to its tanker fleet.

Oct 11 (LNGJ) - AET, one of the leading petroleum and chemical tanker owners and operators, has named its first LNG dual-fuelled Aframax vessels “Eagle Brasilia” and “Eagle Bintulu” in a ceremony at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. “Both vessels have been taken on long-term charter by Shell International Trading and Shipping Co, primarily for operations in the Atlantic Basin,” said AET, a subsidiary of the Malaysian shipping line MISC Berhad. “The vessels are equipped with conventional single-screw propulsion with a two-stroke main engine, three auxiliary engines and two auxiliary boilers, all equipped for LNG dual-fuel capability,” added AET. The LNG fuel is supplied through two type-C tanks of 850 cubic metres each arranged on the main deck aft port and starboard. The vessels are designed to receive fuel from LNG bunkering vessels via ship-to-ship transfer.

Russian shipping line Sovcomflot said Royal Dutch Shell conducted a ship-to-ship LNG bunkering operation in the Dutch port of Rotterdam for the “Gagarin Prospect”, the world’s first LNG-powered Aframax tanker.

Sovcomflot, the Russian shipping line with growing interests in LNG projects and LNG-powered vessels, swung to a first-half loss and said the conventional tanker freight market remained challenging, with rates still well below the average levels seen over the last quarter of a century.

AET Inc., the petroleum logistics unit of Malaysian International Shipping Corp. with an operational fleet of 94 vessels, has signed a charter deal with Shell International Trading and Shipping Co. for the long-term charter of AET's two newbuild LNG dual-fuelled Aframax tankers.

Sovcomflot posted a net loss for the year as it made progress in the LNG shipping sector by starting deliveries from the Russian Yamal LNG plant and securing fuel for a small fleet of LNG-powered, ice-class Aframax oil tankers under construction.