Shipowners chose LNG for most of the vessels contracted with alternative fuels in November, according to DNV.
The classification society’s AFI platform shows that 27 orders were placed for alternative-fuelled vessels last month, of which LNG accounted for 23.
Fifteen of these were container ships and six were from the car carrier segment.
AFI figures show there are now 1,262 LNG-fuelled vessels, of which 613 are trading, with a further 649 on order. This contrasts with the picture for 2015, when there were just 62 LNG-fuelled ships.
Container ships make up the majority of LNG-fuelled vessels, followed by car carriers and crude oil tankers.
In terms of the global fleet, LNG-fuelled ships account for 2.5% of in-operation vessels or 0.6% of ship numbers. The corresponding figures for on-order vessels are 27.7% of gt and 10.1% in ship numbers.
The class society also logged four new orders for ammonia-fuelled vessels during the month, swelling the number of under-construction ships in this emerging sector to 29 in total.
There are 396 methanol-fuelled vessels, of which 54 are trading and 342 on order.
But it said that, overall, November proved slightly slower for alternative-fuelled vessel orders, although it did follow a record-breaking month in October and a strong surge of activity over the summer.
DNV Maritime global decarbonisation director Jason Stefanatos said: “LNG remains the headline story, with exceptional activity since the summer months.
“This is clearly being driven by the container segment, where the vast majority of new orders in 2024 have been for alternative-fuelled vessels.
“Although these results show a slowdown of new orders for alternative-fuelled vessels in November, this follows the strongest month ever in October, and the overall trend remains strong.”
