LNG

European maritime classification society DNV said that there was still momentum in orders for LNG-powered vessels from ship owners in the month of November even at a time of very elevated LNG bunker prices in ports such as Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

According to the latest figures from DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insight (AFI) platform, 17 LNG vessels were added in November with container vessels and car carriers constituting nearly two thirds of the orders.

The total order figure for LNG-fuelled ships for the year to date has now reached 203 and the overall total is 857 ships operating or on order.

“With the preliminary agreement at the European Union last week that shipping would be included in the EU's Emissions Trading System starting from 2024, all low-carbon options now makes even more sense,” said Martin Wold, Principal Consultant in DNV’s Maritime Advisory business.

“Methane emissions will also be included, so methane slip from engines will come under even greater scrutiny,” added Wold.

Containerships lead

The DNV data showed that the total number of LNG-powered ships in operation or on order at the end of November 2022 comprised in the largest sectors 42 containerships in operation and 176 on order, 10 car carriers operating and 106 on order, 46 crude oil tankers operating and 43 on order and 42 oil-chemical tankers operating and 46 on order.

There were also 68 bulk carriers using and planning to use LNG, 50 car and passenger ferries, 39 cruise liners, 38 tugs, 37 offshore supply vessels and 32 RoPax ships.

This data does not include smaller inland vessels and barges that are part of the Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp (ARA) refining hub transportation in northwest Europe.

Analysts note that LNG remained the preferred low-carbon solution despite current gas pricing which is expected to last into the near future.

That’s as LNG priced in fuel oil terms at Rotterdam increased on December 6 to $2,414 a tonne compared with $1,890 per tonne on November 6.

Among other emissions-reducing fuels, Ultra Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (ULSFO) at the Dutch port declined over the past month to $690.00 per tonne on December 6 versus $923.50 per tonne on November 6.

Singapore’s main LNG company Pavilion Energy and the biggest Chinese LNG importer, China National Offshore Oil Corp., have signed an accord for strategic cooperation on LNG bunkering from Northwest Europe to China’s coastal areas.

Gasum, the Finnish state-run natural gas and LNG company, has extended its bunkering services in the Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam (ARA) region by locating its bunkering vessel “Kairos” in the area.

“This supports Gasum’s strategy to expand its maritime services in Northwest Europe,” said the Helsinki-based company.

Previously Kairos has been operating flexibly in the North Sea and Baltic Sea and only arrived in the ARA area upon request.

The 4,376 deadweight ton vessel is 117 metre in length and 20 metres wide with capacity of 7,500 cubic metres.

“The new location of 'Kairos' enables Gasum to deliver bunkers of LNG, the cleanest available marine fuel to its clients in Northern Continental Europe, whenever they have the need,” said Gasum.

Gasum’s Jacob Granqvist, Vice President of Maritime, said he was happy to have the “Kairos” deployed in the ARA.

Market growth

“We are now constantly present in the region and can better cater for the needs of our old and new LNG customers in the maritime segment,” explained Granqvist.

“LNG is the cleanest available marine fuel, and it’s rapidly becoming the most commonly used alternative to traditional fuels,” he noted

Gasum also owns a network of Nordic terminals and facilities comprising a small-scale liquefaction plant and an expanding chain of LNG fuel stations for vehicles.

Its terminals include Sweden’s Nynashamn facility with 20,000 cubic metres capacity of storage and purchased in April 2020 by Gasum from Germany’s Linde AG.

The Finnish company additionally has a small-scale liquefaction plant in Risavika, near Stavanger in Norway, while owning and operating other small regasification and import terminals in Ora and Alesund in Norway and Lysekil in Sweden.

It partly owns the Pori LNG import terminal in Finland and has a stake in the Finnish Tornio Magna regasification facility.

Belgian shipping company Exmar, owner of the “Tango FLNG” barge last deployed in Argentina and now up for re-charter, said it was getting its finances back on track after payments from Argentine energy company YPS and financing deals for other parts of its fleet.

Exmar, the Belgian shipping company with more than 40 vessels in its fleet focused on the liquefied petroleum gas business, narrowed its third-quarter net losses to $16.3 million as its drawback from LNG activities has been hampered by an arbitration case brought by commodities firm Gunvor, offset by a successful LNG production vessel charter to Argentina.

Argentine oil and gas producer, Yacimientos Petroleiferos Fiscales (YPF), said it was loading its first shipment of liquefied natural gas for export at the “Tango FLNG” facility deployed at the port of Bahia Blanca.