VLGC owners are “running out of ideas” about how best to cope with the current depressed market, Clarksons Research details in its latest weekly report.
The London firm said that most of the optimism in the sector has “evaporated”, as the market remains under pressure and idle time is becoming more noticeable.
“Even the stubborn West-East premium which has survived most of this pressure has more or less disappeared,” Clarksons Research warned.
Many term cargo slots out of the US Gulf are being cancelled. One bright spot is India where a number of vessels have been chartered for periods of one year plus.
The depressed VLGC rates has had a knock on effect with new ship orders.
“The LPG carrier sector has experienced the most severe slowdown in ordering activity of any featured sector, an 88% decline on an annualised basis, with only five reported contracts in the year to date,” Clarksons Research reported.
