The market requires at least 91 additional liquefied natural gas carriers to ship contracted volumes of LNG from plants under construction, according to GTT’s chief Philippe Berterottière.
“Fleet replacement, spot trading and market flexibility may increase that number,” Berterottière said during the company’s quarterly and 2021 results presentation on Friday.
The projects include the sixth Sabine Pass train, Calcasieu Pass, Tangguh Phase 2, Coral FLNG, Tortue FLNG, Pluto Train 2, and others.
Last year, GTT received tank orders for 68 LNG carriers, 2 ethane vessels and 6 onshore storage tanks.
Also, it booked orders to equip 27 LNG-powered vessels in 2021, a volume that outstrips all orders taken by GTT in previous years, Berterottière said.
As of December 31, 2021, GTT’s order book excluding LNG as fuel stood at 161 units. This includes 137 LNG carriers, 6 ethane carriers, 1 FLNG, and 12 onshore storage tanks.
With regard to LNG as fuel, the order book stood at 32 units as of December 31, 2021.
Moreover, the LNG tank giant reported a 20.6 percent drop in revenues to 314.7 million euros ($357.7 million).
“Revenues for 2021 are in line with our expectations,” Berterottière said.
“They are down 21 percent compared to 2020, when revenues were exceptionally high, but up 9 percent compared to 2019. 2021 Ebitda was 172 million euros, slightly above expectations thanks to cost control,” he said.