Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua has officially started building the first ultra-large QC-Max LNG carrier as part of the massive QatarEnergy shipbuilding program. The shipbuilder says this is the world’s largest LNG carrier.
According to a statement by Hudong-Zhonghua, it held a steel-cutting ceremony on Tuesday for the 271,000-cbm vessel (H1995A).
Officials from QatarEnergy LNG, Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation, MOL, and others attended the ceremony.
The giant LNG vessel will be 344 meters long, 53.6 meters wide, and will have a draft of 12 meters.
It will feature WinGD dual-fuel propulsion, a reliquefaction system, an air lubrication system, and five tanks equipped with GTT’s NO96 Super+ containment tech.
Hudong-Zhonghua expects to deliver this LNG carrier in the first half of 2028.
This is the first of 24 QC-Max LNG carriers which will serve state-owned LNG giant QatarEnergy under charter deals.
Currently, the world’s largest LNG carriers are Qatar’s Q-Max vessels that are about 345 meters long and have a capacity of 263,000-266,000 cbm.
The Q-Max vessels are slightly longer but have a smaller capacity.
Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation and MOL joined forces on six QC-Max LNG carriers as part of the massive QatarEnergy shipbuilding program.
In addition to the six vessels owned by CSET and MOL, Qatar’s Nakilat previously signed charter agreements with QatarEnergy for nine QC-Max LNG vessels.
Affiliates of China Merchants Group, Shandong Marine Group, and China LNG Shipping, of which CCEST holds 50 percent, will operate nine of these vessels.
CMES will operate four vessels, Shandong Marine Energy three, and CLNG two.
All of the QC-Max vessels, each worth approximately $333 million, will be built by Hudong-Zhonghua.
Besides the QC-Max vessels, Hudong-Zhonghua is building 12 174,000-cbm LNG carriers under the QatarEnergy program, which includes the construction of 128 vessels.