Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua has held keel-laying ceremonies for two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers it is building for MOL and Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation.
According to a statement by the CSSC-controlled shipbuilder, it held the ceremonies for the two 174,000-cbm LNG carriers on October 18.
Hudong-Zhonghua said the LNG carrier with a hull number H1792A is the third vessel being built for Japan’s MOL and China’s Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation.
In April last year, state-run LNG giant QatarEnergy signed charter deals for four LNG carriers with MOL, completing the first batch of charter contracts awarded under its massive shipbuilding program.
Hudong-Zhonghua recently launched the first vessel in this batch, while the shipbuilder started building the second vessel in January this year.
The four vessels, part of Hudong-Znoghua’s fifth-generation Changxeng series, are 299 meters long and 46.4 meters wide.
Following the order for the first batch of four vessels, MOL signed a long-term charter contract in November last year for three newbuilding LNG carriers with QatarEnergy, boosting the total to seven LNG carriers that will be built at Hudong-Zhonghua under the shipbuilding program.
PCI LNG carrier
Besides this LNG carrier, Hudong-Zhonghua held the keel-laying ceremony for the LNG carrier with a hull number H1836A, it said.
This is the last of six LNG carriers Hudong-Zhonghua is building for Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation and PetroChina.
Hudong-Zhonghua delivered the first and the second LNG carrier under the PCI project, Shaolin and Wu Dang, last year, and the third carrier, Kun Lun, in March this year.
Earlier this year, the shipbuilder launched the fourth LNG carrier and on October 15 launched the the fifth LNG carrier in this batch along the MOL vessel.
All of the six LNG vessels feature WinGD X-DF dual-fuel engines and GTT’s NO96 L03+ containment system.
The 295 meters long ships will serve PetroChina under charter contracts.
As part of its plans to double LNG carrier production capacity, Hudong-Zhonghua aims to deliver two more LNG vessels by the end of this year for a total of six ships, setting a new record for the number of LNG carriers delivered in a year.
At present, there are 12 LNG vessels under construction at the yard.