A dearth of open tonnage has bumped up LNG carrier charter rates and expectations at the start of the new year.
Brokers position lists on prompt available ships are reading zero across all three major trading basins as charterers hunt for tonnage to lift cargoes in January and February.
They said that there are just a handful of ships open in the next two weeks with only a few more vessels expected to be added to the mix in the period into the middle of next month.
Charterers have been seen offering rates in excess of $200,000 per day for tonnage to cover cargoes loading next month. But the first fixtures of 2021 at stronger rates have still to be confirmed.
Early bird
Flex LNG chief executive Oystein Kalleklev confirmed to TradeWinds that the company opted to take delivery of its latest newbuilding, the 173,400-cbm Flex Freedom, at "the earliest opportunity" to take advantage of what he described as "a very strong spot market". It was delivered at which after midnight European time after the close of New Year’s Eve.
Kalleklev said the company is now planning to take delivery of its twelfth LNG newbuilding, the 174,000-cbm Flex Volunteer, this month instead of at the end of February as per the vessel’s contractual schedule.
Flex’s 13th and final newbuilding is due for handover in the second quarter.
Kalleklev would not comment on broker reports that the Flex Freedom has been fixed to energy major Shell ex-yard at a rate reported to be between $115,000 and $135,000 per day.
Brokers are also reporting the Flex Volunteer has been committed to Gunvor on a one-year charter. But this has yet to be confirmed.
Major moves
Shell is also reported to be moving in on another LNG newbuilding, the 174,000-cbm Minerva Chios.
A second Minerva Marine newbuilding is being touted as potentially open for charter ex-yard from March.
Steam-turbine vessels are also faring well in the current environment.
Trader Trafigura is being linked to the 138,000-cbm Excalibur (built 2001) for spot voyage at about $120,000 per day.
Rate expectations
On Tuesday, the Baltic Exchange upped its LNG rate assessments across all three routes.
Its BLNG2 — the route from the US’ Sabine Pass LNG to the Isle of Grain terminal in the UK — was pegged at $225,309 per day, up $38,517.
The BLNG3 from Sabine Pass to Tokyo was quoted at $202,572 per day, a jump of $27,627. And the BLNG2 from Gladstone in Australia to Tokyo rose $29,239 to $199,867 per day.
All the indices are based on a round-voyage basis for a 160,000-cbm tri-fuel diesel-electric LNG carrier, cold and ready to load.
Similarly, Spark Commodities Spark25 Pacific route assessment, which covers a 160,000-cbm TFDE vessel on a voyage from the North West Shelf project to Tianjin in China, rose 13% to $192,750 per day.
Asian LNG prices have surged in the past few weeks, with the benchmark Japan/Korea Marker price climbing well into double-digit figures on the back of colder weather in the region, Panama Canal delays and local production outages.
The jump has pulled cargoes east on longer voyages.
