French LNG containment giant GTT said it has received 34 orders for liquefied natural gas carriers as well as contracts to equip 20 LNG-powered vessels during the first quarter of this year.
These LNG carriers will be built by South Korean yards but also Chinese yards with delivery dates spanning from the third quarter of 2024 and the third quarter of 2026.
In the first quarter, GTT received orders to equip 20 LNG-powered vessels, confirming its
progress in this segment after a record last year with 27 orders.
Various Chinese and Korean shipyards will build these ships and deliver them between the first quarter of 2024 and the second quarter of 2025.
Large order book
As of March 31, 2022, GTT’s order book excluding LNG as fuel stood at 189 units. This includes 165 LNG carriers, 6 ethane carriers, 1 FLNG, three GBSs, and 12 onshore storage tanks, the firm said on Thursday.
With regard to LNG as fuel, the order book stood at 50 units as of March 31, 2022. These are all containerships.
Moreover, the LNG tank giant reported a 22 percent drop in revenues to 68.2 million euros ($73.9 million) compared with the first quarter of 2021.
“The decline is attributable to a base effect, as the first quarter of 2021 still benefited from 2020’s strong dynamic, whereas the first quarter of 2022 did not fully benefit from the high level of orders taken in 2021,” GTT’s CEO Philippe Berterottière, said.
Looking further ahead, GTT expects to benefit from the “current robust order momentum”.
In this regard, GTT said that the orders received since mid-2020 correspond to delivery dates spread mainly over the 2023-2025 period.
As such, the group expects to achieve “significantly higher” revenues and earnings from 2023 onwards than in 2022.
Russia exposure
GTT said in March that the execution of certain contracts, related to Novatek’s projects in the Arctic, was at risk due to the Russia-Ukraine war and sanctions.
In Russia, the company is involved in the design of 3 GBSs as part of the Novatek-operated Arctic LNG 2 project, as well as in the design of tanks for 15 ice-breaking LNG carriers currently under construction at Zvezda.
Other orders in progress in Asian shipyards and specifically dedicated to Russian Arctic projects include 6 ice-breaker LNG carriers and 2 FSUs.
Lastly, Asian shipyards are currently building 8 conventional LNG carriers for international owners, which would serve Arctic LNG 2 projects but are also able to operate in all types of conditions.
“To date, GTT continues to perform these contracts in compliance with the applicable sanction regimes,” Berterottière said.
“However, the current situation exposes some of these projects to delay or cancellation risks. If these risks materialize, the group may have to revise its 2022 targets,” he said.