At least eight LNG carriers were ordered in the second quarter of this year, edging the total for the first half to almost 30 vessels.
South Korea’s top shipbuilders netted all the LNG orders in the past three months, with DSME and Samsung Heavy Industries scoring three apiece and Hyundai Heavy Industries signing two contracts.
This quarter’s mystery buyer was unmasked as JP Morgan, or associates of the financier, who contracted a pair of vessels at SHI.
Greek surprise
But Greek owner Dynagas also surprised the sector, signing a two-ship order at HHI, which shows its appetite for LNG tonnage is not sated.
John Angelicoussis-controlled Maran Gas Maritime continued to support its favoured builder by confirming two vessels in a series of apparently never-ending rolling options at DSME.
MOL also firmed up one of the two optional slots it is holding at DSME, while Greece’s Minerva Marine also inked an option it is sitting on at SHI.
The orders boost the total of LNG carriers contracted in the first half to at least 28 vessels. This compares with 26 ships in the same period last year.
The eight newbuildings logged in the second quarter mirror that recorded for 2018, when a stronger first half was also seen.
Perhaps tellingly, given the number of open units, there were no orders for floating storage and regasification units during the first half of this year.
Rash of enquiry
The second quarter also saw no new orders for small ships or LNG bunker vessels, despite a rash of new enquiry for units in the market that is expected to be translated into firm orders in the second half or in 2020.
Brokers peg full-size LNG carrier newbuildings at about $190m, showing that yards have been able to inch their prices upwards from the $180m levels seen last year. Premiums of up to $5m were also being charged for ships with additional technology.
But industry players said the price increase is less steep than expected, due to the exceptionally quiet order situation in other sectors.
Despite the second-quarter slowdown, the mood for the LNG carrier newbuildings remains bullish.
Not only are a number of shipowners sitting on optional slots at yards, but the emergence of a rash of newbuilding and multi-year charter tenders suggests the picture will remain busy for the next 18 months and possibly beyond, depending on whether new liquefaction developments are sanctioned.
Orders piling up
Top of the heap is Qatar’s huge order for up to 80 LNG carriers, although the timing on when these orders will be placed has yet to be clarified.
Similarly, work is expected to get underway on a possible 16 ships for Mozambique LNG later this year with orders expected to be firmed up in 2020 or later.
Significantly, Novatek has said it expects to take a final investment decision on its Arctic LNG 2 project this quarter. SHI is understood to have been selected as the technology partner to team up with Russia’s Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex for the 15 Arc7 vessels that might be required for the development.
Brokers and industry observers said enquiries from the likes of ExxonMobil, Total and Shell for LNG newbuildings could result in more orders this year and talk rumbles on about the party behind Clarksons’ latest LNG newbuilding enquiry dubbed “Project Helen”.
LNG carrier newbuildings contracted in the second quarter of 2019
| Owner | Capacity (cbm) | Delivery | Shipyard | Number of ships |
| Minerva Marine | 174,000 | 2021 | SHI | 1 |
| JP Morgan | 174,000 | 2022 | SHI | 2 |
| Dynagas | 180,000 | 2022 | HHI | 2 |
| Maran Gas Maritime | 174,000 | 2022 | DSME | 2 |
| MOL | 174,000 | 2022 | DSME | 1 |
| Total | 8 |
