Japan shippers plan to order 90 new LNG tankers worth $17.6 billion by 2020

TOKYO/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Japan's top shippers plan to order around 90 new liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers worth about 1.8 trillion yen ($17.61 billion) by 2020 as they gear up to transport rising volumes of the super chilled fuel from North America and Australia. The expansion plans reflect rising LNG demand in nuclear-free Japan to generate electricity and also in other Asian countries such as China and South Korea. Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. , Japan's second-largest shipping company, plans to increase the number of its LNG carriers to 110 by 2020 from about 70 now, a spokesman said. Nippon Yusen KK , the No.1 shipper in the country, plans to raise its LNG tanker strength to 100 by 2020 from about 70 now while third-biggest shipper Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd aims to order about 20 new LNG tankers before the end of the decade.

by via Yahoo! Finance: Top Stories