'LNG ships find it difficult to get rid of cargo in European ports'

LACK OF TERMINAL CAPACITY

Dozens of ships that have sailed to Europe with cargoes of LNG to provide our continent with sufficient gas for the coming winter months, are waiting off the coast because there is insufficient capacity in European ports to unload the LNG. Reuters news agency reported this on Tuesday.

The US news agency focuses in particular on the situation in Spain, where more than 35 ships are ‘floating’ at sea, waiting for a spot at one of the scarce LNG terminals in the country.

Off the coasts of other European countries, the number of waiting LNG ships must also be in the dozens, according to Reuters, which has been told by market experts that ships will probably look for ports outside Europe to unload their cargo if the backlogs are not now to be entered quickly.

In recent months, Europe has invested a lot of money in filling gas reserves. This was done by buying LNG on the free market, which pushed prices up sharply. As a result, Europe has now become a sought-after region for LNG sellers to send their tankers to. However, because the stocks are full, those ships cannot lose their cargo, reports the German business newspaper Handelsblatt. More than 35 ships are waiting off the Spanish Mediterranean coast. The risk is that those ships decide to continue sailing to another region such as Asia.