• 03 Apr 2017

According to the analysis of  Mike Korkhill, Consultant Editor at LNG World Shipping, the in-service and on-order fleet of LNG-powered seagoing ships has reached the 200 mark.  The double century was achieved on 20 March 2017.

The complement of LNG-fuelled vessels that are not LNG carriers comprises 103 in-service ships and 97 on order. The total represents a year-on-year jump of 23 per cent.

Twelve months ago, when LNG World Shipping last carried out a comprehensive review of the LNG-fuelled fleet, there were 74 such vessels in service and 88 on order.

Passenger ships are the largest single segment, accounting for 72 of the 200-ship total. The in-service passenger ship fleet stands at 40 ships (up from 30 last year) while there are 32 such vessels on order (23 last year). The  jump in the passenger ship fleet owes much to the interest in clean-burning LNG as marine fuel by the leading cruise ship operators. Between them, Carnival Group (AIDA Cruises and Costa Crocere), MSC Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises have ordered 13 newbuildings.

  The most dynamic sector over the past 12 months has been tankers and bulk carriers, thanks to a slew of shipyard completions. Newbuilding contracts in the tanker and bulker segment have kept the orderbook topped up, even as the in-service fleet expanded from six to 19 vessels.

Between new orders stand out 10 chemical/product tankers, made up of six of 16,300 dwt and four of 8,000 dwt and 4 oil tankers Aframax of 114,0000 dwt.

The container and dry cargo ship segment of the LNG-fuelled fleet is the smallest of the four, with 11 ships in service, while the orderbook has fallen by a third, to 14 ships, as a result of three deliveries, four cancelled contracts and the absence of any new orders to compensate.

The diversified service and supply vessel segment has been the subject of least change over the past year, both the in-service and on-order fleets rising by three vessels, to 33 and 23, respectively. Platform supply vessels (PSVs) figure prominently in the operational LNG-powered service and supply vessel fleet, accounting for 20 of the 33-ship complement. The orderbook, in contrast, shows much more variety, with a portfolio encompassing dredgers, a jack-up rig, a semi-submersible crane vessel, a cable-layer and a windfarm installation vessel.