Early one evening in 2000, as TradeWinds’ Singapore office was packing up for the day, a phone rang.
It was a tip-off. Did we know that Exmar was ordering an LNG carrier newbuilding — on speculation, and giving South Korean shipyard DSME its first export order?
The resulting headline said it all: “Exmar risks LNG order”. Fifteen years ago shipowners did not splash out on LNG tonnage without a 20-year plus timecharter contract to back the investment.
