Classification society DNV says orders for LNG-powered ships hit a new record high in April. The orders included mostly containerships and car carriers.
Owners placed in total 51 orders for LNG-powered ships last month, bringing the total for this year to 121 vessels, according to DNV’s Alternative Fuels Insight platform. 50 of these ships in April were containerships and car carriers.
This compares to record 35 ships in September last year and 40 vessels in January but these orders included 15 vessels from December.
Compared to the prior month, April orders rose by 26 LNG-powered ships.
“Despite everything 2022 is off to a really strong start with orders well ahead of the record year 2021,” Martin Wold, principal consultant at DNV, said.
He said last month’s orders alone for LNG-fueled ships added about half a million tonnes of LNG demand.
“Although we expect growth to continue, it is likely to be more modest for the rest of the year,” Wold said, adding that orders for LNG bunkering vessels were lagging behind.
The April count includes orders by MSC, Cosco Shipping, Hoegh Autoliners, Global Auto Carriers, and others.
According to the DNV platform, 286 LNG-powered ships are already in operation, while there are 489 LNG-fueled vessels on order.
Owners also placed orders for 221 LNG-ready vessels.
LNG-powered car and passenger ferries continue to lead the way with 46 in operation. The operational fleet also includes 36 oil/chemical tankers, 34 containerships, and 32 offshore supply ships.
As per vessels on order, LNG-powered containerships account for a big part of the orders with 155 units. Owners also ordered 84 car carriers, 56 crude oil carriers, and 51 bulk carriers.
These statistics do not include smaller inland vessels or dual-fuel LNG carriers.
Besides LNG-powered and LNG-ready vessels, there are 37 bunkering vessels in operation and 19 on order, the platform shows.