LNG

A study involving UK maritime classification society Lloyd’s Register, Shell International Trading and Shipping Co. and French liquefied natural gas storage technology company GGT Group has concluded that inspection intervals for LNG carrier membrane tanks could be safely extended due to monitoring technology and predictive maintenance.

South Korean shipbuilders are still leading their Chinese counterparts in orders for liquefied natural gas carriers, though China’s yards are well ahead in overall orders for newbuilds even as the shipbuilding market was weaker than in 2022.

Awilco LNG, the small Norwegian-based shipping provider with two vessels, managed to swing back to profit in the third quarter as the ships returned from dry dock and said that overall LNG shipping market rates were still at healthy levels though vessels may soon be used for storing LNG with land-based facilities full in the European Union.

Stolt-Nielsen Ltd, the Oslo-listed and London-based owner of a small tanker fleet including for LNG through its stake in Avenir LNG, reported a second-quarter net profit of $113.3 million before an incremental loss provision of $155M related to the “MSC Flaminia” fire back in 2012.

The first major tropical storm and cyclone warning was issued by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center in Miami as a storm developed strength in the Eastern Caribbean, though was unlikely to travel far beyond that region in what is an early start to the hurricane season.

French classification society Bureau Veritas has approved a joint development project involving several companies from Japan, South Korea and France for wind-assisted ship propulsion (WASP) for an LNG carrier and a Very Large Crude Carrier.

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company, received three approvals from European classification society DNV on its latest development projects in alternative fuels.

May 16 (LNGJ) - Flex LNG, the Norwegian shipping company with a fleet of 13 vessels and several chartered to the largest US exporter Cheniere Energy, reported a fall in first-quarter profits despite a rise in operating revenues. The average time charter equivalent rate declined in the quarter to $80,175 per day compared with $81,699 per day for the fourth quarter of 2022.

   Flex reported vessel operating revenues in the first quarter of $92.47 million compared with $74.57M in the same three months of 2022. Net income dropped to $16.53M from $55.76M in the prior-year quarter. “As we completed the balance sheet optimization program during the first quarter, we had some additional financing costs in our accounts for the first quarter,” explained Øystein M. Kalleklev, Chief Executive of Flex LNG Management AS. “However, we have now put in place new attractive long-term financing for all our 13 ships, boosting our cash balance to $475M at quarter-end, or about $9 per share,” added Kalleklev.

Dynagas LNG Partners, the owner of six liquefied natural gas carriers and mostly involved in Russian cargo liftings, reported an increase in net income for 2022.

The attractive spot LNG charter rates in the West of Suez market remained mostly limited to the 2-stroke segment, though most of these deals were being concluded for loadings in late March 2023.