The chicken and egg situation that we witnessed last year, whereby facilities weren’t being built as there weren’t ships to justify them – and vice versa – seems to be resolving itself now. This bears out with the finding that 15% of respondents expect small scale bunkering and refueling facilities to enjoy the biggest increase in demand (only surpassed by container terminals and large scale LNG). This year, we see both the ships and the facilities start to be commissioned and built.

For large scale LNG, as a mature and safety conscious market, it’s unsurprising that respondents feel, overall, supported by their suppliers. The criticality of the LNG market demands supplier involvement over the whole product lifecycle, and facility owners should be demanding 24/7 service and rapid response service level agreements to ensure they receive the support they need.

On the other hand, this would be a surprising finding for the small scale market, where the industry and the regulators are still largely trying to establish what best practice looks like at both a regional and a global level.