Asia/Pacific News
Cheap Oil Causes Chinese Operator to Discard LNG Plans
Friday February 13, 2015
Chinese operator Jiangsu Blue Ship Power has backtracked on plans to convert its ships to run on liquefied natural gas (LNG) due to the low cost of oil, Shippingwatch reports.
According to Chen Zhigang, managing director of Jiangsu, sentiment in China towards ship retrofits has been ambivalent, especially as bunker prices have made sticking with fuel oil a financially better choice.
The company had originally signed agreements to upgrade ships last year at a estimated cost of between $96,000 and $112,000 per vessel.
Just last year, it was reported that the use of LNG as a marine fuel was "rapidly rising" in China, with the country seen as actively expanding its market share in new build liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.
