Panama Canal to Cut U.S.-Asia LPG Ship Rates as Fleet Grows
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The widened Panama Canal will cut costs to ship U.S. cooking and heating gases to Asia by shortening voyages, effectively lowering tanker demand just as yards build more of the ships, according to Joachim Grieg & Co.
The canal expansion scheduled to finish in 2015 will shorten U.S.-to-Asia voyages for very large gas carriers to 25 days from 42 days going around Africa, said Steve Engelen, Oslo-based head of research at the shipbroking company whose clients include Europe’s largest producers. At the same time, yards will construct the most new vessels since 2008, according to data from Clarkson Plc, the world’s largest shipbroker.