LNG Bunkering

Integr8 sees spot LNG bunker demand pick up in evolving market

Firm’s LNG desk has recently traded several LNG stems as a volatile market encourages buyers to seek spot deals to manage their price risk.

Published

3 years ago

October 20, 2023

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Integr8 Fuels on Thursday (19 October) said its LNG desk has recently traded several LNG stems as a volatile market encourages buyers to seek spot deals to manage their price risk:

LNG bunkering is typically more complex than bunkering of conventional fuels. It requires a very good understanding of the operational, commercial and contractual aspects of LNG deliveries, and Integr8 has been helping several clients through the purchasing process.

Volatility spurs spot trading

When strike action was announced by workers at two Chevron LNG plants in Australia, it sent shockwaves through the LNG market in September. While these plants primarily produce LNG for exports to Asian markets, the impact on prices was global and Europe’s benchmark TTF price surged on the news. The market feared global supply disruptions in an interconnected LNG supply chain. And this shows just how sensitive the global supply-demand balance has been to supply disruptions after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Volatile LNG prices are here to stay for the time being, but are expected to come down and stabilise at a lower level after 2025, argues Integr8 Fuels business manager Jonathan Gaylor. “We forget that before Russia’s war with Ukraine, LNG prices were competitive against conventional marine fuels and rather stable,” he says.

LNG was priced below €500/mt in Rotterdam’s bunker market until December 2021, when it had risen gradually for about a year. When Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, it started gathering pace and rose rapidly to new highs. A year later, the price had quintupled and peaked at over €2,500/mt. It had gone from a discount to VLSFO to a three-fold premium, and this discouraged owners of dual-fuel vessels from bunkering LNG. Their fuel flexibility came on display and the market saw widespread gas-to-oil switching.

Rotterdam’s LNG price has since come off sharply. It has dipped below LSMGO and traded at parity with VLSFO. Buyers have subsequently readjusted to take advantage of the renewed pricing opportunities, and oil-to-gas switching has become more prevalent again.

LNG and conventional low-sulphur marine fuels alternate between being at a discount to one another. This discourages terming up supply in contracts and has increasingly turned buyers towards the spot market to manage their price risks and costs on a more predictable near-term basis.

A highly volatile and competitive market presents new opportunities for traders to get involved, particularly as the global LNG-capable fleet is set to more than double from just over 400 vessels now to more than 800 by 2028, according to data from classification society DNV.

Container vessels used to make up the vast majority of vessels bunkering LNG. We have recently seen more dual-fuel tramp vessels bunkering. These typically require greater flexibility in timing and location, especially for tankers. Oil and chemical tankers now make up the biggest LNG-capable vessel type, with 116 vessels in operation and another 85 on order, according to DNV data.

Price references vary between suppliers and geographies. It is quite common to link LNG stem pricing to established wholesale oil and gas benchmarks like TTF, JKM, Henry Hub and Brent to cover some exposure to price swings.

There are longer-term Brent or fuel oil price linkage options for LNG, but they will typically come at a premium for buyers. By locking in the delta on a linked price of a certain percentage, LNG prices will have a partial ceiling based on conventional fuels and buyers can pay down the premiums they paid for investments in dual-fuel engines. The rate of payback on dual-fuel vessels is expected to pick up after 2026 as global LNG supply is set to be boosted by huge new volumes from Qatar and the US, according to multiple industry forecasts.

Challenges remain

LNG stems still require longer time to fix and deliver than conventional ones and this is also probably how things will play out in the foreseeable future. In many cases, compatibility studies between delivering and receiving vessels need to be performed to ensure safe and smooth deliveries.

Integr8 has the knowledge and network to identify competitive suppliers and advice buyers on how best to streamline the bunkering process. Having an overview of and ready access to supply intelligence can certainly help to make the bunker planning and delivery process more efficient for buyers.

Outlook

Gas prices could easily rise on increased heating demand this winter, but will then likely come down again post winter. Especially if this winter proves that there is sufficient supply in Europe and industrial demand remains subdued.
The global LNG-fuelled fleet is projected to grow faster than the LNG bunker fleet is expanding. This could lead to undersupply of bunker vessels in 2025-2026, when bunker demand is on track to rise above supply capacity and LNG prices become competitive. It could pose challenges to tramp trading vessels looking for timely LNG spot bunker deliveries.
Looking further ahead, global gas supply is set to rise with production gains in Qatar and the US. Qatar is in the process of a major expansion of its North Field and two new LNG export terminals. A surge in exports is expected to boost US gas investments and production capacity to new highs over the next decade, with Europe as a key outlet.

Photo credit: Venti Views on Unsplash / Integr8 Fuels
Published: 20 October, 2023

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Alternative Fuels

MPA and MSC ink MoU to support adoption of alternative bunker fuels

MPA and MSC will explore new routes and services to strengthen connectivity, support the adoption of alternative marine fuels such as bio-LNG, and advance technologies to improve vessel energy efficiency.

Published

2 hours ago

June 4, 2026

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MPA and MSC ink MoU to support adoption of alternative bunker fuels

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) on Wednesday (3 June) said it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MSC Mediterranean Shipping Company to strengthen collaboration in maritime decarbonisation, digitalisation, innovation, and manpower development.

The MoU was signed on 25 May 2026 by Mr Ang Wee Keong, Chief Executive of MPA, and Mr Soren Toft, Chief Executive Officer of MSC.

The MoU underscores the shared commitment of MPA and MSC to foster a sustainable, digital, and future-ready maritime sector, while enhancing MSC’s operational and business activities in Singapore. This year also marks the 30th anniversary of MSC establishing its Asia Regional Office and local office in Singapore.

Under the MoU, MPA and MSC will explore new routes and services to strengthen connectivity, support the adoption of alternative marine fuels such as bio-LNG, and advance technologies to improve vessel energy efficiency and operational performance.

MPA and MSC will also collaborate on maritime digitalisation initiatives to improve operational efficiency, including streamlining vessel arrivals and port operations.

On manpower development, MSC will support internship and scholarship opportunities through Singapore Maritime Foundation’s Maritime Outreach Network (MaritimeONE) platform, an industry-led tripartite partnership comprising industry, government and institutes of higher learning that aims to raise awareness of the maritime industry and attract quality talent into the maritime sector.

Mr Ang Wee Keong, Chief Executive of MPA, said: “This partnership reflects the strong collaboration between MPA and MSC in driving sustainability and digitalisation in the maritime sector. By working together on decarbonisation, operational efficiency and talent development, we aim to strengthen Maritime Singapore’s position as a trusted and future-ready global maritime hub.”

Mr Soren Toft, Chief Executive Officer of MSC, said: “Singapore is a strategically important hub for MSC and a key gateway to the broader Asia region. As we mark 30 years in Singapore, this MOU reinforces our long-term commitment to strengthening our presence here. MSC and Singapore are closely aligned on the priorities shaping the future of global shipping, and we look forward to deepening this partnership to drive the continued growth and resilience of the maritime industry.”

Photo credit: Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore
Published: 4 June, 2026

Alternative Fuels

Shipfinex: The green fleet transition has a financing problem

Capt. Vikas Pandey, Founder & CEO, Shipfinex argues green shipping progress is uneven: major carriers can finance alternative-fuel vessels, while smaller owners face capital constraints.

Published

3 hours ago

June 4, 2026

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Shipfinex: The green fleet transition has a financing problem

By Capt. Vikas Pandey, Founder & CEO, Shipfinex

The numbers on alternative-fuel orders look encouraging. Seventy-two percent of newbuild capacity ordered in the first ten months of 2025 was for alternative-fuel vessels, with LNG dual-fuel accounting for 60% of that figure. More than 1,369 LNG dual-fuel vessels are now in operation or on order globally. By most measures, the transition appears to be happening.

Look at who is actually placing those orders. MSC. Hapag-Lloyd. CMA CGM. Carriers with balance sheets large enough to absorb the cost premium of alternative-fuel newbuilds and relationships with Chinese leasing companies that extend leverage ratios unavailable to most of the industry. The Strait of Hormuz disruption this March accelerated that activity further: LNG tanker charter rates spiked above $200,000 per day and carriers with deep pockets moved to lock in fuel flexibility. Meanwhile, for vessels under 6,000 TEU, orders for conventionally fuelled tonnage rose to 28% of capacity ordered in 2025, up from 19% the year before. That is not a story of broad commitment to green fuels. It is a story about who has access to capital.

An alternative-fuel newbuild costs materially more than a conventional equivalent. Methanol-ready designs, ammonia-ready structures, LNG dual-fuel systems, each carries a cost premium above the base vessel price. For an independent shipowner financing through a traditional bank, that gap is increasingly difficult to bridge. Top-40 bank lending to shipping fell from $454.9 billion in 2011 to $284.3 billion by end-2023. The Chinese leasing companies that absorbed part of that contraction are structurally oriented toward Chinese-built vessels under long-term contracts with tier-one counterparties. Independent bulk owners, mid-tier tanker operators, feeder container companies: they are working with a materially shrunken pool of willing lenders at precisely the moment they are being asked to upgrade their fleets.

This bifurcation deserves more attention from the marine fuels industry than it currently receives. Bunkering infrastructure investment follows demand signals. Alternative-fuel bunkering at secondary ports, methanol at regional hubs, LNG outside the major transhipment centres, requires a broader fleet base of alternative-fuel vessels to justify the investment. If green fuel adoption stays concentrated among a handful of majors rather than spreading across the independent owner fleet, the economics of scaling bunkering supply infrastructure outside the primary corridors remain thin.

Capital market structure and marine fuel adoption are connected, and pretending otherwise slows both. Digital instruments representing economic exposure to vessel-owning Special Purpose Vehicles, structured within regulated frameworks like VARA in Dubai, can extend the base of capital available to shipowners below the tier-one threshold. That capital base does not replace bank lending. It reaches operators that bank lending currently does not.

The Hormuz disruption reminded the industry that fuel supply chains carry geopolitical risk. The financing gap raises a quieter but equally structural point: the demand side of the green fuel equation depends on shipowners being able to afford the vessels that create that demand. Alternative-fuel bunkering infrastructure will scale when the fleet ordering those vessels does. Right now, that fleet is smaller than the order book numbers suggest.

About the Author

Vikas Pandey is a Master Mariner with decades at sea across various vessel categories. He is Founder and CEO of Shipfinex FZCO, a maritime asset tokenization platform operating under VARA In-Principle Approval (IPA/26/01/002) in Dubai and registered as a Virtual Asset Service Provider in Poland.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any financial instrument or virtual asset. Maritime Asset Tokens are virtual assets; values may decline materially below purchase price. VARA In-Principle Approval does not constitute a final licence.

Linkedin: https://ae.linkedin.com/in/capt-vikaspandey
Website: https://www.shipfinex.com/

Photo credit: Shipfinex
Published: 4 June, 2026

Alternative Fuels

Report: MSC Cruises ships operated on over 9,800 mt of bio-LNG and biofuels in 2025

MSC Group’s Cruise Division used 9,839 mt of renewable marine fuels in 2025 across its fleet, according to its 2025 Sustainability Report published last week.

Published

1 day ago

June 3, 2026

Admin

Report: MSC Cruises ships operated on over 9,800 mt of bio-LNG and biofuels in 2025

MSC Group’s Cruise Division used 9,839 metric tonnes (mt) of renewable fuels in 2025 across its fleet, according to its 2025 Sustainability Report published last week.

The company used a combination of bio-LNG and biofuels across its fleet, resulting in emissions reduction of 48,714 mtCO2e compared to equivalent fossil fuels.

Based on the Energy Transition Plan, the report showed that MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys remain on track to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for marine operations by 2050. In 2025, MSC Group’s Cruise Division achieved the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) 2030 carbon intensity reduction target five years ahead of schedule.

The report said the MSC Cruises demonstrated a net-zero voyage using biomethane was possible with the launch of MSC Euribia in 2023.

Since then it has actively engaged with fuel producers and suppliers to secure affordable high quality renewable fuels and in 2026, it began blending them into its operations at scale.

The bio-LNG it sourced in 2025 was produced from a variety of different sustainable feedstocks, including food waste, sewage sludge, organic municipal waste and, most notably, manure.

As most of its fleet remains conventionally powered, biodiesel represents the only drop-in solution available for these vessels today.

In 2025, MSC Europa ran on a total of 6,856 mt of bio-LNG while MSC Opera used 1,727 mt of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). MSC Seaview sailed using 572 mt of HVO and 684 mt of a B24-VLSFO blend.

Photo credit: MSC Cruises
Published: 3 June, 2026