Greek shipowners, seeking to capitalize on gas oversupply forecasts, plan to further increase their presence in the LNG trade market.

According to latest available official data, Greek shipowners have ordered 26 new LNG carriers with a total capacity of 4,510,050 GT and a total value of 5.81 billion dollars.

In addition, three Greek shipowners recently placed orders for new ships, two of these concerning a number of LNG carriers, it was disclosed last week during an international shipping fair in Athens.

Maran Tankers and Maran Gas Maritime, owned by Yiannis Aggelikousis, have ordered four tankers and four LNG carriers, increasing this shipowner’s orders placed at South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo to one billion euros.

Dynagas, owned by shipowner Giorgos Prokopiou, has ordered two regasification vessels from Chinese shipbuilder Hudon Zhonghua, each unit worth between 250 million and 300 million dollars.

The third order, made by the Tsakos group, is not gas related. The group ordered containers.

These latest developments indicate that two of the country’s leading shipowners are focused on further developing their places in the LNG market despite less optimistic forecasts made by international officials on future gas market growth.

After having grown at a rate of 2.5 percent over the past six years, the natural gas market is forecast to grow at an average rate of 1.5 percent, annually, until 2021, primarily as a result of a European slowdown and uncertainty in China, according to the International Energy Agency.

Latest data made available by valuation provider Vesselsvalue showed that the fleet of Greek-owned LNG carriers ranks as the world’s second largest with 71 vessels worth a total of 13.03 billion dollars.