South Korean shipbuilder HD Hyundai Samho has officially started building Nakilat’s first of two LNG carriers as part of an order placed last year.
The shipbuilder held the steel-cutting ceremony for the LNG carrier (Hull No. 8262) on February 21, according to Nakilat.
Nakilat said this marks the construction start of six gas carriers at HD Hyundai Samho.
In January 2024, Nakilat placed orders worth about $955 million with HD Hyundai Samho for the construction of two LNG tankers and four LPG carriers.
The LNG carriers will each have a capacity of 174,000 cubic meters, while the very large LPG/ ammonia gas carriers will each have a capacity of 88,000 cbm.
Nakilat will take delivery of these vessels between 2026 and 2027.
In addition to these vessels, South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean recently started building Nakilat’s first of eight LNG carriers under the massive QatarEnergy shipbuilding program.
Last year, state-run LNG giant QatarEnergy signed time charter agreements with Nakilat for 25 conventional-size LNG carriers as part of the second phase of its massive shipbuilding program.
Seventeen of the 25 LNG vessels are being constructed at the Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) shipyards in South Korea, while the remaining eight are being constructed at Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
Hanwha Ocean will deliver these vessels by January 2028.
In addition to these 174,000-cbm vessels, QatarEnergy also signed a time charter and operation agreement with Nakilat for nine 271,000-cbm LNG carriers.
The nine QC-Max vessels will be constructed at China’s Hudong-Zhonghua.
Nakilat has 36 LNG carriers and four LPG/ammonia carriers on order.
The total vessel count in the company’s fleet will reach 114 once all the vessels are delivered, including 105 LNG carriers.