China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC) has delivered the first LNG carrier it built for compatriot China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES), a unit of China Merchants Group. This is also the first large LNG carrier built by the Chinese shipbuilder.
DSIC held a naming and delivery ceremony on Wednesday for the 175,000-cbm LNG carrier, Sea Spirit.
The shipbuilder launched this vessel in May of last year, and Sea Spirit completed its sea trials in July of this year.
The LNG carrier is 295 meters long and 46.4 meters wide, with a design draft of 11.5 meters and a speed of 19.5 knots.
Also, it features an LNG dual-fuel low-speed main engine with an integrated ICER system, a reliquefaction unit, and GTT’s Mark III Flex membrane containment system.
This vessel will be chartered to Sinochem.
It will be managed by OPearl, a joint venture consisting of CMES, CNOOC, and NYK .
CMES has eight LNG carriers on order at DSIC, and this is the first vessel in this batch.
DSIC launched the second vessel, Sea Navigator, in October 2024, the third vessel, Sea Creation, in March this year, the fourth vessel, Sea Argosy, in May this year, the sixth vessel, Sea Energy, in June this year, the seventh vessel, Sea Charity, last month, and it recently launched Sea Harmony.