Uncertainty is threatening to spoil the party for LNG shipowners.
Weaker Asian gas prices and the restarting of the first of Japan’s shuttered nuclear reactors have thrown LNG demand forecasts into doubt.
This has left owners asking if tonnage requirements into next year will be quite as strong as initially predicted.
The jitters have come as the traditional summer industry lull kicks in and the number of idle vessels grows.
Few doubt this winter’s shipping demand will arrive but industry players said there is now a feeling that charterers may just have clawed back a little of the higher ground and could start to apply some downward pressure on charter hire rates.
Throughout the year there has been talk that spot charter rates could...
