Wood Mackenzie warned today that this year’s rush into LNG ship ordering could see newbuildings delivered into a declining freight market.
The UK-based consultancy said 45 LNG carriers have been ordered this year, compared to just 5 in all of 2010.
Most of the ships have been ordered on a speculative basis, and WoodMac claims the ships could find limited opportunities when they hit the water.
“Ships ordered now which will be delivered around 2014-2015 have no guarantee that new supply projects will choose to charter these vessels rather than order their own purpose-built ships,” said senior shipping analyst Andrew Buckland.
He said the shipping market should tighten on the medium term as a gap in orders lasts until late 2013.
But the LNG market could eventually shift to more shorter-distance, intra-Pacific trading as new projects come online in the region, displacing Atlantic basin cargoes into the Pacific.
“Australian supply in particular, displaces the need for long-haul Atlantic supply,” WoodMac said.
