Attached please find an article, that may be of interest to you regarding LNG shipping, that was reported in the 11th May 2001 (Vol 12, No 19) edition of TradeWinds - The International Shipping Gazette.

Regards,
Darrin Donegan

Quote"

NEW WORK SOUGHT FOR RIOT-HIT GAS SHIPS

Gas exporters in Indonesia are seeking business for two LNG carriers unexpectedly left without cargoes because of the turmoil in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

LNG industry sources say Osprey Maritime's 129,000 cbm Golar Spirit (built 1981) and Leif Hoegh's 125,000 cbm Hoegh Gandria (built 1977) are sitting idle since  violence caused ExxonMobil to shut its LNG production plant at 
Arun in March.

Sorces indicate the vessels were initially offered at over $90,000 per day, but say rate expectations have now been dropped to nearer $70,000 a day, despite the current shortage of available tonnage.

One report suggests that a US-based importer has fixed one of the ships for a spot cargo from Bontang in Indonesia to Lake Charles, Louisiana, but details on the prospective deal have yet to emerge.

ExxonMobil declared force majeure and shut down its onshore gas fields in Indonesia on 9 March - cutting off supplies to its Arun LNG processing plant - after security incidents and rebel activity in troubled Aceh province escalated.

Indonesian based observers say Pertamina is now keen to see Arun restarted as soon as possible.

However, they add that ExxonMobil is not optimistic about the prospects for putting its employees back in before the end of the year.

Kogas imports around 3-4 million tonnes of LNG amounting to one-fifth of its imports from Arun, and has annual contracts to import two million tonnes of LNG from Malaysia, and 700,000 tonnes from Brunei.

Kogas could be forced to look at taking supplies from the Middle East or other Asian export projects unless the Acehnese tensions are eased.

New suppliers like Yemen are emerging while existing exporters such as Malaysia, Australia, and the Middle East are expanding their capacity, creating fierce competition. 

By - Lucy Hine
from London

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