Gas traders stop LNG ships at sea – waiting for better LNG prices

Dusseldorf The “Seishu Maru” has been bobbing between The Hague and Rotterdam on the North Sea for days at just three knots. The 288 meter long ship transports liquefied natural gas – LNG for short, an energy source that has been supposed to supply Europe with electricity and heat since the outbreak of the Ukraine war.

The demand for LNG is correspondingly high – and yet the ship is in no hurry. Seafaring experts are also observing the sluggish pace of the LNG tankers “Grace Dahlia” off Funchal on Madeira, the “Shinshu Maru” near Portugal and the “Rudolf Samoylovich” before entering the English Channel.

“More than 30 tankers with liquefied natural gas are swimming just off the European coast,” the London-based energy market analysis company Vortexa has now determined. According to the online location portal “Vesselfinder”, many of them travel at three to eight knots. That’s not even half power. The reason for this is surprising.

Shipping companies are slowing down the speed of transport