Stena Bulk purchases three LNG tankers
Stena Bulk has purchased three LNG tankers from the shipping company TMT, one of the tankers was built in 2006 and is currently chartered by Gazprom, the other two are newbuilds with a capacity of 174,000 m3 each. Stena Bulk expects the two newly built vessels to be delivered from the shipyard in June.
"We believe this to be a very good investment. LNG accounts for a significant part of the growth in the global energy supply and there is currently a shortage of LNG tankers. Consequently, we expect the two newly built vessels to directly command freight rates in excess of US$ 100,000 per day", says Ulf G. Ryder, President and CEO of Stena Bulk.
"In addition to the shipyards' full order books, there is a need for 60 - 70 new LNG tankers to satisfy the rising demand up until 2014. LNG tankers are more capital intensive than normal tankers and are about three times as expensive. It takes nearly four times longer to build a LNG tanker than a normal tanker of the same size. Because of this and the more complicated operation of an LNG tanker, there are few players active in the segment", says Ulf G. Ryder.
He added, "Having in this situation the liquidity and operational know-how to be able to purchase these three vessels so quickly, two of which are so new that they have not even been delivered from the shipyard yet, gives our LNG investment an excellent starting point".
Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/lng-shipping/25052011/stena_bulk_purchases_three_lng_tankers/
You might also like
EIA: US natural gas trade will continue to grow with the start-up of new LNG export projects
The U.S. Energy Information Administration’s recently released Short-Term Energy Outlook forecasts that US LNG exports will continue to lead growth in US natural gas trade as three LNG export projects currently under construction start operations and ramp up to full production by the end of 2025.