Exmar Avoids Loss by Selling Vessels
Belgian shipowner Exmar reported a $28 million net profit for the year 2017, on IFRS, compared to $40.4 million in 2016.
The Nicolas Savery-led shipowner said that despite the drop, the result has been positively impacted by the sales of vessels including FSRU’s Excelerate, Explorer and Express that have been sold to their charterer, Excelerate Energy.
On the FSRU (Floating Storage and Regasification Units) market, several projects have suffered delays or cancelled. There has been one long-term contract awarded for an FSRU in 2017 worldwide and it was to EXMAR.
Currently 26 FSRUs exist out of which 23 operate as terminals; presently ten units are under construction. Forecasters estimate that by 2025 the number of FSRUs would be close to 50.
Demand of LNG is currently at around about 290 million tons and is estimated to be heading towards approximately 480 million tons by 2030. LNG carriers on the spot market in 2017 were impacted by low energy prices, an oversupply of fleet tonnage and delayed LNG deliveries from new liquefaction plants.
Modern units earned below USD 30,000 per day, whilst older generation or steam turbine units were only obtaining rates below USD 20,000 per day. By year- end, the LNG fleet amounted to 450 LNG carriers, with a pending order book of 94 vessels to be delivered in the coming years. This represents 21% of the existing fleet.
The world’s first FSRU barge has been contracted on the only long-term employment awarded in 2017 and was delivered in December 2017. The unit is undergoing site specific modifications before the start of its operations in the second half of 2018.
