Tankers hauling liquefied natural gas (LNG) ought to brace themselves not only for a busy operational turnover scheduling of transporting the chilled gas from supplier to client's port, but also for increased profits as global demand has been forecast to grow to an all-time high.

Bloomberg News estimated each LNG tanker will earn as much as $200,000 a day in 2012, from just only $140,000 at the end of 2011. The estimates are based on tankers that contain enough gas to supply 25 per cent of peak daily winter demand in the UK alone.

Operating 33 vessels, it could rake in the most profits for Golar LNG Ltd. and Teekay LNG Partners LP.

Still, not all LNG tankers may benefit from the demand and supply growth as operators most often charter tankers on long-term, fixed prices. Of the total fleet of 372 vessels, only 44 were available for hire as of the middle of last month, Bloomberg reported.

Demand for LNG is on the rise, parallel to the world's growing concerns to cut carbon emissions to control global warming. Gas emits only half of the carbon dioxide that coal releases. LNG's biggest importer, Japan, bought more of the chilled gas after terminating 89 per cent of its nuclear capacity following the March 2011 Fukushima disaster.

Global LNG demand may expand 7.5 per cent this year to 258 million metric tons, according to Bloomberg data, adding global capacity to produce the fuel will rise 61 per cent in the decade to 2020.

The projected demand, however, could prove detrimental on one hand as tankers may find it hard to deliver supply. Earlier estimates released by Morgan Stanley showed ship shortages may worsen as the 372-strong fleet is seen to expand just 0.8 per cent this year.

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