China’s Nantong CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering said it has secured an order from Canada’s Seaspan Marine Transportation to build two 7,600-cbm LNG bunkering vessels.
The unit of CIMC Enric penned the shipbuilding deal with the Canadian firm on February 19 via a virtual signing ceremony, according to a CIMC SOE statement.
Besides two firm LNG bunkering ships, the deal also includes an option for a third vessel, CIMC SOE said.
Following the completion of the first vessel, it would become the first LNG bunkering ship on the west coast of North America, it said.
CIMC SOE did not reveal the price tag or the delivery dates of the vessels.
Clarksons Platou said the yard would deliver the LNG bunkering ships in 2024.
The signing of the contract follows a letter of intent CIMC SOE signed with SeaspanLNG, a unit of Seaspan Marine, in May last year.
Seaspan is a group of Canadian companies working in ship assist, coastal and deep-sea transportation, ferry services but also fuel bunkering on the west coast of North America.
Designed by Vard Marine, the 112.8 meters long bunkering vessels would provide ship-to-ship LNG transfer as well as coastal/short sea shipping operations, Saespan previously said.
Besides Vard, Seaspan said it had partnered with the Port of Vancouver, Canada’s largest port, and FortisBC, the owner of the Tilbury LNG facility in British Columbia.
