Stricter marine pollution laws key driver for LNG tanker market growth

In the Global LNG Tanker Market 2016-2020 report by RnR Market Research, analysts forecast that stringent marine pollution laws will be a key driver for the LNG tanker market growth, resulting in a CAGR of 6.21% during the said period.

The marine transportation industry also affects the environment adversely in many ways, but the LNG tanker industry provides a potential exception.

One of the major trends seen over the past decade is the significant increase in the marine pollution. The result of this has been increase in the focus of the marine environment protection and attempt to revive the marine ecosystem.

However, being a relatively cleaner fuel than the counterparts, the LNG tanker market is expected to reap tons of benefits from the imposing of the stricter marine pollution laws.

According to the global LNG tanker market report, a major trend seen in the industry is the revamping in the carrier propulsion systems as these LNG carriers have undergone a paradigm shift in their design ever since the very first LNG vessel was inducted into service around 50 years ago.

The historical fleet of LNG tankers in the global trade had been fitted with a reliable, but moderately efficient steam turbine-driven propulsion systems. The only fuel option these systems had was related to the boil-off gases, which was a by-product of the storage of natural gas under cryogenic conditions.

The Asia Pacific (APAC) region dominates the global LNG tanker market with a market share of around 88%. With the consumption figures conventionally high, several nations in the region had started the quest of attaining supply assurance by building their own LNG tankers since long.

Japan and Korea have dominated the construction of LNG tankers around the globe for decades, with China gaining its fair share in the recent decade. The projected increase in the number of vessels in this region will fuel the growth of the market in APAC over the forecast period.

The membrane technology segment accounts for around 76% of the market share to become the key revenue generating segment of the global LNG tanker market. This technology, developed in the year 1971, has made significant strides in the past decades and commands almost three quarters of the global LNG tanker fleet.

Considering the market share in terms of absolute tanker numbers, the number of vessels, based on the membrane technology, stood at 312 tankers in 2015.

The following companies are the key players in the global LNG tanker market: Samsung Heavy Industries, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, DSME, Mitsui OSK Lines, NYK Lines, and Yamal LNG.