China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC) has officially started building two 175,000-cbm LNG carriers for compatriot China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES), a unit of China Merchants Group.
The shipbuilder held a keel-laying ceremony on March 1 for the LNG carrier with a working name G175K-3 and it hosted a separate keel-laying ceremony on March 3 for the vessel with a working name G175K-5.
DSIC said these are the third and fifth of eight LNG carriers it is building for CMES.
DSIC started building the first vessel in this batch in June last year and laid the keel in December.
In March 2022, CMES placed an order for two dual-fuel LNG carriers for $380 million, DSIC’s first order for large LNG carriers, and these vessels will serve charter deals with Sinochem.
After that, CMES exercised an option for two more LNG carriers worth $400 million, and added two more vessels in December 2022 with a price tag of about $470 million. These two LNG carriers ordered in December 2022 will go on charter to PetroChina.
CMES placed the most recent order for two LNG carriers worth some $470 million in May last year.
According to DSIC, the LNG carriers will be 295 meters long and 46.4 meters wide, with a design draft of 11.5 meters and a speed of 19.5 knots.
The vessels feature the latest LNG dual-fuel low-speed main engine with integrated ICER system, a reliquefaction unit, and GTT’s Mark III Flex membrane containment system, it said.
CMES will take delivery of all of these LNG carriers during 2025-2027.