Baltic Exchange launches LNG, LPG ship expenses assessment

The London-based Baltic Exchange has launched a tool to provide quarterly assessments on the cost of operating liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas tankers.

The Baltic Exchange said in a statement that data will be provided by independent third-party ship management companies.

These companies are Anglo-Eastern and AEX LNG Management, Fleet Management and V-Group.

The exchange, acquired by the Singapore Exchange in 2016, launches its latest offering following benchmarking that also covers vessel earnings.

“Adding OPEX indices for gas carriers brings transparency to the marketplace about how much it costs to run an LNG or LPG carrier and complements our data for the spot earnings of these vessels”, said Baltic Exchange chief executive Mark Jackson.

“They assist investors assess health of earnings using independent and reliable information from a credible provider of benchmarks for the shipping industry”, he added.

All values are expressed in US dollars per day and the published OPEX value is the sum of crew, technical, insurance and fees.

The exchange said that drydock costs will not contribute to the OPEX, but will be published for both LNG and LPG vessels.