SSG No 10 - Shipgaz

strategies, depending on the area of trade,
whether or not the ships are chartered to
third party or if the owners have newbuildings
for delivery.
Other elements are the companies’ longterm
policy or whether they are publicly
listed. In that case a sale of a vessel would
bolster the balance sheet. Owners also tend
to assess the risk of scrapping tonnage differently,
but this time around there is little
risk that the market will improve and owners
will not forego a business opportunity
by not scrapping.
Both oil majors and charterers do vet
LPG carriers at regular intervals, but their
policy vary a great deal and some are flexible
in assessing the standard of the owner,
management and crewing.
LPG freight developments
Spot freight for the VLGCs and the medium
range vessels has fallen quite dramatically
in the past 12 months. A year ago a 75,000
cbm carrier commanded USD 1,050,000
per month, while that rate in the beginning
of May was only USD 565,000, nearly
halved in a mere 12 month. During the
past 12 months the freight reached a low of
LPG carrier freight
(USD '000 per month – spot) ■ 75,000 cbm ■ 57,000 cbm ■ 115,000 cbm
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
Quarter 1 ‘06
Q 2 ‘06
USD 220,000 during week 4 through week
6 and a high of USD 1,550,000 per month
last summer. The 57,000 cbm LPG carrier
fared a little better, but still fell from USD
1,230,000 per month to USD 990,000 in
Source: Fearnresearch
a space of one year. The rate hit a high of
USD 1,650,000 per month in week 18 last
year and a low of USD 825,000 per month
towards the end of the year. Freight for
the 15,000-cbm semi-refrigerated LPG car-
THE SCANDINAVIAN SHIPPING GAZETTE • MAY 21 2007 17
Q 3 ‘06
Q 4 ‘06
Q 1 ‘07
Q 2 ‘07