Safer LNG route for GAIL cargoes
As expected, GAIL is no longer using the Suez Canal through Egypt for its tankers to import LNG from the US to India.
Instead, the company's new LNG tankers, GAIL Bhuwan and GAIL Urja, carrying LNG from Sabine Pass and Cove Point in the US, are returning to the US using the Cape of Good Hope route around South Africa. Shipping companies continue to avoid the Suez Canal because of missile and drone attacks by Yemen-based Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.
On April 3 (2024), GAIL Bhuwan left Dabhol after discharging a 170,169 cubic metre long-term cargo from Cheniere. GAIL Bhuwan is expected to reach Cove Point on May 1 (2024) by going around the Cape of Good Hope.
"GAIL Urja also took the Cape of Good Hope route on its first trip to India from Cove Point," says a GAIL source. Carrying a 170,272-cubic metre cargo, GAIL Urja berthed at Dabhol on February 21 (2024).
Other spot cargoes from US liquefaction facilities are also taking the longer Cape of Good Hope route. On April 5 (2024), Greece-flagged LNG tanker Gaslog Warsaw arrived at Mundra carrying a US cargo from Corpus Christi in Texas.
On March 29 (2024), LNG tanker MUREX travelled the same route with a 163,655 cubic metre cargo from Atlantic LNG in Trinidad and Tobago. "India is lucky most of its LNG comes from the Middle East," adds an IndianOil source.
Ships carrying LNG from QatarEnergy, Adnoc or Oman LNG do not have to pass through the Suez Canal. "Since January 2024, not a single US cargo has come via the Suez Canal," we hear.
For US cargoes meant for northeast Asia, shipping companies prefer using the Panama Canal. But for India and other South Asian countries, they usually send ships through the Suez Canal.
"Cape of Good Hope is the safest and only route as even the Panama Canal has a long tanker waiting time."