Malaysia’s Petronas has confirmed the long-term charter of three vessels from South Korean shipowner Hyundai LNG Shipping.
Petronas said on Thursday it awarded the deal to Hyundai LNG via an international tender exercise to support its growing global LNG business portfolio.
The 174,000-cbm vessels will join Petronas from the second quarter of 2024 on a staggered basis and the energy giant will use them primarily to ship volumes from the Shell-led LNG Canada development. Petronas has a 25 percent in the 14 mtpa LNG export project under construction in Kitimat.
LNG Prime reported on this move earlier this month when South Korea’s shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries revealed it would build three LNG carriers for an unidentified owner.
Moreover, the shipbuilding deal has a price tag of about 636.4 billion won ($575.1 million).
Upon completion, these vessels would be amongst the “most energy-efficient” carriers ever built, with shaft generators powered by LNG, Petronas claims.
They will feature air lubrication systems that reduce hull resistance but also an optimised hull design that reduces aerodynamic drag at sea, the firm said.
In addition, the vessels will have the integrated smart ship solution to enhance the performance monitoring process.
With these vessels, Petronas has grown its global LNG fleet from 24 to 27 covering small, medium, and large-sized ships, it said.
The multi-sized fleet has enabled the company to deliver LNG to over 25 countries from its global portfolio of supply located in Malaysia, Australia, Egypt, and Canada by 2024.
To date, Petronas has delivered over 11,500 LNG cargoes across the world, the firm said.
