LNG

March 25 (LNGJ) - Shipping charter rates for LNG carriers in the spot market increased for West Of Suez by $2,000 per day to average between $34,000 per day and $30,000 per day for vessels of 155,000-165,000 cubic metres capacity. One-year charter rates for the most modern vessels also increased to around $54,000 per day from last week’s $49,000 per day. In the East of Suez charter market average rates were unchanged at between $32,000 per day and $28,000 per day, according to various brokers.

“On the very prompt, charterers were willing to pay almost any price to secure a vessel. Specifications no longer seemed important, but rather any vessel was considered against the most lucrative arbitrage we have ever seen in the LNG market,” so recalled one shipbroker headquartered near the Tower of London of last month’s events.