China’s Tianjin Southwest Maritime has teamed up with CSSC Shipping, the leasing unit of CSSC, to order three 174,000-cbm LNG carriers at Hudong-Zhonghua, according to shipbuilding sources.
Following delivery in 2028, all of the three LNG carriers would start serving a unit of Chinese independent gas distributor ENN under long-term charter deals, the sources told LNG Prime.
Brokers reported during this week that each of the LNG carriers has a price tag of about $250 million.
However, the sources said that this price is probably too high for one 174,000-cbm LNG newbuild in China. The price could be about $235-$240 million per vessel.
One shipbuilding source said that the new LNG carriers would be similar to the six vessels Hudong-Zhonghua is building for Japan’s MOL and compatriot CNOOC.
Part of Hudong-Zhonghua’s fifth-generation Changxeng series, these 299 meters long vessels would feature WinGD’s X-DF dual-fuel engines and GTT’s NO96 Super+ containment system.
Prior to this order, Japan’s shipping giant MOL signed a deal to charter three newbuild LNG carriers to a unit of Chinese independent gas distributor ENN.
MOL ordered these vessels at Hudong-Zhonghua as well with delivery set by 2028.
After delivery, the vessels would be engaged mainly in transport of LNG, procured by ENN under long-term purchase contracts, to China.
ENN operates a large LNG terminal in the Zhoushan area of Zhejiang province.
