- Pacific and Atlantic day rates for LNG vessels up $70,000/day and $50,000/day since mid-September.
- The ballast bonus in the Pacific and Atlantic is marked at 150% and 125% respectively.
S&P Global Platts Tuesday assessed Pacific and Atlantic day rates for LNG vessels at $170,000/day and $140,000/day respectively, up $70,000/day and $50,000/day since mid-September. This is equivalent to gains of 70% and 56%.
Shipping rates first broke into six figures around mid-September and continued to rise. The ballast bonus in the Pacific and Atlantic is marked at 150% and 125% respectively, meaning vessel economics are now above round-trip.
There continue to be no ships available from independent shipowners across both basins with chartering opportunities focused on relets from portfolio players or traders.
Climbing rates
Trafigura and BP have all fixed sublets north of $120,000/day over the last two weeks, according to market sources. This includes a sublet of Adam LNG from Trafigura to Jera, for a late November to early December load in Australia, with a hire rate heard between $185,000 and $200,000/day.
Trafigura also sublet the Arwa Spirit to Unipec at around $140,000/day, after chartering the vessel from BP for multi-month at around $90,000/day. BP sublet the British Emerald to CNOOC for an H1 December QCLNG load at around $135,000/day.
Looking for loads amidst climbing rates?
Meanwhile it is unclear if ExxonMobil is still looking for a mid-November Gorgon load. Marubeni was heard to have sold its late-November-loading cargo from Bontang, thus ending its vessel inquiry, while Brunei LNG had withdrawn its early December requirement. One Japanese player was still heard looking for a ship for early December load.
One shipping source noted that the bullish gains in shipping were being driven by solid demand, characterized by cargoes that need to load. This is in contrast with vessel inquires issued to see if a deal can be put together.
Shipping typically accounts for 5-20% of the delivered price ex-ship of LNG, meaning big moves in rates can have a significant effect on the final price of gas.
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Source: Platts
