Long LNG vessel order book stressing shipyards
The heavy order book for liquefied natural gas vessels is driving up prices and impacting shipbuilding capacity in Asia, according to Logan Chong, managing director for ship finance at the French banking group Societe Generale.
'The newbuilding price for an average size LNG vessel is $220 million, and up to $250 million including all delivery costs,' Chong said Wednesday at the Sea Asia Conference in Singapore. As of March 'there are 224 LNG vessels in service and 145 on order. The current order book would require $35 billion to fund these newbuildings. That's significant in terms of capital, but also in terms of shipyard capacity, which has an effect on other shipping markets, like bulk, tankers and containerships.'