Global orders for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers hit a monthly high in April.
Data from Clarkson, a British shipbuilding and shipping market analyzer, shows that in April this year, the volume of new orders for LNG carriers was 5.964 million m³, and a total of 26 vessels were traded. Up to now, the cumulative order quantity of global LNG carriers is 352, with a deadweight of 34.449 million tons and a total cargo tank capacity of 63.222 million m³.
From the perspective of shipping companies, LNG carriers are mainly ordered by European and Asian shipping companies such as Qatar, Greece, South Korea and Japan. The top 10 shipowners are:
Qatar Gas Transport Company Nakilat; Japanese shipping giant MOL; Norwegian shipping company Knutsen OAS Shipping; China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES); British shipping company Oceonics Services; Greek shipping company Capital Maritime;Korean shipping company H-Line/Pan Ocean/SK Shipping; Danish shipping company Celsius Shipping; Greek shipping company Angelikousis Group; and Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha. Details are as follows:
According to the data released by Clarkson on May 7, the global new ship order volume in April this year was 4.71 million rcompensated gross tonnage(CGT) (121 ships), based on CGTs, compared with the same period last year (3.81 million CGTs) increased by 23.6%.
In terms of shipbuilding countries, in April, China’s shipbuilders new orders for 3.58 million CGTs (91 ships), with 76% market share ranked first in the world; South Korean shipbuilders new orders for 670,000 CGTs (13 ships), with 14% market share ranked second in the world.
In terms of shipbuilding countries, the new orders received by Chinese shipbuilders in April were 3.58 million CGTs (91 ships), ranking first in the world with a market share of 76%. The new orders received by Korean shipbuilders were 670,000 CGTs (13 ships), ranking second in the world with 14% of the market.
In terms of single shipyards, the top five shipyards holding orders for LNG carriers are Hanwha Ocean (77 ships), Samsung Heavy Industries (73 ships), HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (67 ships), Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (58 ships), and HD Hyundai Mipo (37 ships).
The most noteworthy LNG carrier order in April this year was the contract signed between QatarEnergy and Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding for the construction of 18 271,000 m³ QC-Max LNG carriers, which set a record for the world’s largest single shipbuilding order. The total value of the order is nearly $6 billion (about RMB 43.4 billion), with single shipbuilding cost of about $333 million.