Qatari LNG tanker Al Dafna heading to Brazil-AIS

Qatari LNG tanker Al Dafna heading to Brazil-AIS

Al Dafna is the fourth tankerload of LNG spotted heading from the world's biggest exporter to South America's biggest economy for delivery over the next few weeks.

October 12, 2010 10:57 by Reuters

Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker Al Dafna appears to be heading to Brazil, rather than the United States, according to AIS Live ship tracking data on Reuters.

The destination of the huge “Q-Max” tanker was still showing on AIS as the Unites States when it headed south west through the Canary Islands in the western Atlantic on Sunday. But the vessel’s heading indicates it is going to Brazil, not North America.

Al Dafna, which with a capacity of 266,000 cubic metres is one of the world’s largest super-cooled gas carriers, is the fourth tankerload of LNG spotted heading from the world’s biggest exporter to South America’s biggest economy for delivery over the next few weeks.

Brazil, which began importing LNG in 2008, has become a magnet for Atlantic Basin supply and taken record volumes since August — about five cargoes a month — a trend which could continue into November.

The Golar Maria LNG tanker also passed through the Canary Islands on Monday, heading for the Brazilian port of Pecem, according to the AIS Live. The vessel loaded a cargo to re-export from Belgium in the first week of October.

Another Qatari LNG tanker, Al Hamla, is heading for Mexico’s east coast import terminal at Altamira, where it is expected to arrive on Oct. 29, according to AIS.

Altamira saw four tanker deliveries in September, up from two tankers in August, an industry source said. (Reporting by Daniel Fineren; editing by James Jukwey)