Attracted by rising European prices and weak Asian demand, traders diverted at least six shipments of liquefied natural gas that were en route from Asia to Europe at the beginning of the month.

Diverted cargoes could help meet additional European demand as countries look to replace Russian gas delivered by pipeline after the expiry of the transit agreement with Ukraine after the expiry of the transit agreement with Ukraine on 1 January. According to data from the analytics company Kpler, the ships were loaded in the United States and were originally destined for China, South Korea, Thailand, and Singapore

Then the ships were hijacked in the Atlantic Ocean between January 8 and 14, changing course to Europe. According to Martin Senior, LNG pricing manager at Argus, “diversions happen because Asian prices do not maintain a sufficient premium over European prices to attract cargo