A Study on the Maritime Transport Network Design under Different Charter Rates: The Case of LNG Transport between Qatar & Turkey

Many indicators show that the total global LNG demand has risen by an estimated 7.6% per year since 2000. Over the same period, the growth is almost three times faster compared to the natural gas growth estimated at 2.7% per year. As a consequence, the number of the LNG tankers trip from and to the production fields and the consumptions area is growing. The challenge is to design a cost efficient maritime route for an LNG tankers. This article investigates: (i) how, the frequent fluctuation of the Bunker price, the Suez Canal tolls, terrorism activities etc. might affect decision of the LNG Tankers maritime routes and (ii) suggest a framework to help the redesign of a maritime transport routes for LNG vessels. To illustrate this framework developed, the case of the LNG transport between Qatar and Turkey is analysed with an extension made to a maritime route from Asia to Europe. The paper's contribution to the literature is the development of a routing scheme design achieving LNG handling cost savings from Asia to Europe.