Tradewinds: I’m a Believer

“At an LNG shipping roundtable hosted by Poten & Partners and Bloomberg in New York the chairman of Golar LNG, Tor Olav Troim, urged companies that are taking a look at the segment to proceed with caution. “‘Private equity destroyed the tanker and bulker markets two years ago,’ he said, adding: ‘It’s a niche [business] and I hope it stays that way. I think it can if [existing operators] act responsibly [in terms of ordering].’ “GasLog chairman Peter Livanos offered a similar opinion when the moderator of the discussion, Poten chief executive Michael Tusiani, asked panelists about speculative ordering. “‘Taking risk on top of an existing platform is what we should be doing, it’s those that don’t have a platform who usually get their fingers burned,’ he said. ‘With this group [of speakers] I have no problem with them taking a risk [since] they have a platform to manage it.’ “John Angelicoussis of Maran Gas, the only private operator on the panel, reminded the audience that charterers of LNG tonnage are extremely discerning and often ‘punish mistakes severely.’ “‘It’s not for amateurs,’ the tycoon told the audience, adding: ‘A lot of people have the money, but it takes a lot to make the organization [that can effectively manage a fleet of LNG carriers].’ “Pointing to Troim, Livanos joked that that attendees should ‘buy his stock if they want a wild ride’ and GasLog’s ‘if you want to feed your family’ before reiterating that people ‘shouldn’t buy ships if they don’t know how to run them.’ “In response to a question about market consolidation he argued that some newcomers will undoubtedly ‘lose their shirts’ and thus, believes any consolidation will be ‘organic’ in a sense because this would present an opportunity for existing owners to expand. “When asked for a market forecast the owner of Greek operator Dynagas LNG, George Procopiou, who noted he would like to double the size of his company’s fleet within the next five years, said the future looks bright for the LNG segment in general. “‘I believe the spot market will have a great time shortly, ton miles are increasing,’ he said in reference to rising US exports to Asia before applauding other promising developments, adding: ‘We have entered the gas age and there is no going back.'”