Development Trends and Regulatory Problems in the Natural Gas Maritime Transportation Market

Abstract

The article considers trends in the global market of liquefied natural gas (LNG), justifies the economic feasibility of its use as an alternative fuel, highlights the economic advantages of maritime transportation of LNG and considers issues of its regulation. The objective of the paper is to assess Russian prospects at the global LNG market and related issues of efficiency of the practical application of the rules for the sea transportation of LNG taking into account the peculiarities of their regulation when dealing with the complex issues of commercial shipping. In order to achieve the goal the following tasks were set: evaluation of the LNG market conditions, economic analysis of the gas transportation options, study of the main standard proformas of LNG sea shipping charters used for unification of contractual relations (ExxonMobiltime 2000; ShellLNGTime 1,2,3,4; LNGVoy; ASBAGASVOY and others. ), as well as the problems of regulating economic and legal relations in this area, identifying the causes of their occurrence, justifying the economic consequences of their occurrence and proposing recommendations for their leveling. The paper notes the facts of changing the cargo properties during transportation (LNG vaporizability), which undoubtedly affects its price and leads to losses. Also negative economic consequences are associated with high rental rates of gas carriers and delay of ships en route. At the same time, the tendency of using short-term spot charters, which may not create the same commercial relations between the owner and the charterer as long-term charters, has been revealed. It is determined that because of the specifics of LNG transportation, time-charter relationships between the ship owner and the charterer prevail in their escort, but the complexity of compliance with transportation terms remains, which makes voyage (spot) contracts for LNG transportation under these pro formas insufficiently effective. As a result, the necessity of use of LNGVoy charter party for conclusion of such charter parties is revealed and justified, which will provide increase of efficiency of economic and legal regulation of sea transportation of LNG.