Nearly 50 liquefied natural gas carriers linked to Qatar’s exports are currently lying idle across Asia, according to ship tracking data from Kpler and Bloomberg, highlighting the deep disruption caused by the Middle East conflict.
The empty vessels have accumulated in key maritime zones, including west India, waters off Sri Lanka, near the Strait of Malacca, and offshore Singapore, with none of them carrying cargo. Based on the standard LNG carrier capacity of around 170,000 cubic meters, the stranded fleet represents roughly 3.4 to 3.5 million tons of LNG transport capacity.
The disruption follows the continued shutdown of Qatar’s Ras Laffan export plant, the world’s largest LNG export facility, after attacks earlier in March and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy chokepoint
The impact is significant because Qatar normally accounts for nearly one-fifth of global LNG supply, and Asia takes more than 80 percent of its shipments, making the region especially vulnerable to supply shocks.
Amid the shortage, China has been reselling record LNG volumes from its stockpiles to other Asian buyers, while countries such as India, Bangladesh, Japan, and Pakistan have been seeking replacement cargoes from the spot market.
At the same time, Asian LNG imports have already fallen sharply, with total imports dropping to 20.6 million tons last month, down 8.6 percent year on year, marking the steepest decline since 2020 as higher prices and supply tightness weaken demand.