Qatar Gas Transport Co is currently the top Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) company in monetary terms, with a live and on-order fleet value of $11.9 billion, reports Rebecca Galanopoulos of Veson Nautical.

Based on VesselsValue data, the fleet consists of 36 live LNG and LPG vessels with a further 30 on order. Qatar Gas also placed the highest value newbuilding order in February 2024 with their investment in 15 large LNG vessels, scheduled to be built at Samsung and contracted for $230 million each.

QatarEnergy is the second largest owner with a fleet value of $8.57 billion with an orderbook of 33 large LNG vessels.  

ADNOC Logistics and Services rank third with a fleet value of $6.48 billion. However, in terms of vessels numbers, ADNOC have the largest fleet with 76 vessels. ADNOC has received a boost in rankings due to its acquisition of an 80% stake in Navig8, set to be completed in 2027.

In 2024, the top ship types ordered by GCC-based companies were LNG, LPG and tankers with 44, 23 and 15 vessels contracted respectively at a total value of $14.3 billion.

Of the top GCC companies ordering vessels last year, Qatar Gas was the biggest spender in the newbuilding sector, ordering 30 vessels. The bulk of this order consisted of large LNG vessels of 174,000 CBM, which accounted for around 57%, followed by QMAX LNG of 271,000 CBM with a share of around 30%. VLGC LPG orders of 88,000 CBM accounted for around 13%.  

AW Shipping ranked second, investing $1.9 billion in nine VLEC vessels of 93,000 CBM, which are scheduled to be built at Jiangnan Shanghai Changxing and delivered between 2026-27. They also ordered four VLAC vessels of 99,000 CBM at the same yard, which are scheduled to be delivered between 2026-28.

QatarEnergy is in third place, spending $1.84 billion for eight large LNG vessels of 174,000 CBM, scheduled to be built at Hanwha Ocean and delivered between 2027-28.  

Tankers were the most popular vessel purchased within the GCC zone in 2024, with 156 transactions taking place and worth $5 billion as the supply-demand imbalance caused by the Red Sea crisis fuelled market sentiment and expectations of high earnings.

The LNG sector was the second most active last year with a spend of $1.8 billion for 12 vessels. Most of these acquisitions were for large LNG vessels with an average age of 11 years.  

Bulkers were the third most popular vessel purchased in 2024 with 51 sales reported and valued at $772 million. Smaller vessels were the most popular, with the majority of purchases in the Handy/Supra/Ultramax sectors with a share of around 69%, followed by Panamax/Kamsarmaxes accounting for around 18%, and Capesizes accounting for around 13%.