China State Shipbuilding Corporation and its units have secured record 49 orders for large liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers in 2022.
CSSC revealed this in a statement issued on Wednesday saying these orders are worth more than $10 billion.
China’s global market share of large LNG carrier orders jumped from less than 7 percent in 2021 to nearly 30 percent in 2022, “forming a new pattern of LNG carrier construction market” alongside with the three major Korean shipbuilders, CSSC said.
At the same time, the order structure was diversified with newbuild contracts from international customers, it said.
Record LNG carrier orders
LNG Prime reported on December 20 that China’s Hudong-Zhonghua and three other compatriot yards won a record number of orders for LNG carriers last year, boosted by international orders and the giant QatarEnergy shipbuilding program.
Based on data from Hudong-Zhonghua, DSIC, Jiangnan, Yangzijiang, and shipbuilding sources, LNG Prime estimated that these yards won in total 51 orders for large LNG carriers last year up to date.
After that, Denmark’s Celsius Tankers also ordered four LNG carriers at China Merchants Heavy Industry in Jiangsu.
With this, this yard became the fifth in China to win an order for large LNG carriers, boosting the total of LNG carrier orders in China last year to 55.
CSSC said that Hudong-Zhonghua set the record of the largest number of LNG carrier orders in China’s shipbuilding history last year, while the shipbuilder was also joined by Jiangnan Shipbuilding and DSIC.
These three shipbuilders are controlled by CSSC.
Under the giant QatarEnergy program, Hudong-Zhonghua booked orders for seven LNG carriers with Japan’s MOL, and five LNG carriers with a consortium of Japan’s NYK, K Line, Malaysia’s MISC, and China LNG Shipping.
MOL also ordered three LNG carriers at Hudong-Zhonghua for charter to ENN and teamed up for six LNG carriers for CNOOC charter while NYK also ordered six LNG carriers that will serve CNOOC.
Besides Hudong-Zhonghua, DSIC won its first large LNG carrier last year and it will in total build six LNG carriers for China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES), a unit of China Merchants Group.
This is the case with Jiangan as well who will build six LNG carriers for a unit of UAE’s Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc).