LNG carriers - large, young and valuable

摘要

The LNG tanker market is showing a clear trend towards large capacity and high value ships in the young fleet. The outlook for the LNG shipping market is positive as LNG exports in 2016 have seen the strongest growth since 2010. As new countries join the ranks of LNG importers - also driven by deployment of FSRUs - fleet utilization and charter rates have been increas- ing since the second half of 2016. A further increase is expected in 2017 and LNG trade is expected to exceed fleet capacity by 2020. A look at the delivery schedule until 2020 shows an opposing trend. A widespread network of LNG suppliers and consumers could also fuel the uptake of LNG as a ship fuel as worldwide availability increases.