MISC newbuild deliveries to result in LNG ship surplus

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Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s MISC Berhad has revealed that it expects delivery of commissioned newbuilds to exceed market demand for this year and the next. This information, imparted by MISC LNG vp Gunaseharan Ganapathy to Taiwan News, follows an announcement that nearly 35 MISC tankers are idled at sea and in yards as the projects dedicated to these vessels - particularly in Asia - are delayed in the current economic climate.
"Some projects are not online and there were a few speculative builds," said Ganapathy. "Even after the projects are commissioned there may be a surplus of 18-20 vessels."
For instance, MISC received a tanker in January and will get another vessel this month to deliver cargoes from Yemen's LNG project while the production line may start in September, Ganapathy said, adding that charter rates for ships transporting spot shipments have declined to about US$35,000 to US$40,000 a day.
Growth in LNG trade slowed to 0.5% last year after expanding 7.3% in 2007 because of the delayed commissioning of ventures in Qatar, Russia and Yemen, Shigeki Sakamoto, a senior researcher at Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp., a state-owned natural resource researcher, said at a conference in Kuala Lumpur.  [24/03/09]