Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua has delivered the 174,000-cbm LNG carrier, Kongtong, to compatriot Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation.
According to CSSC’s Hudong-Zhonghua, the LNG carrier was delivered on September 26, six months ahead of the contract date.
Also, this is the second LNG carrier Hudong-Zhonghua delivered this month.
Hudong-Zhonghua said one more LNG carrier is scheduled for delivery on September 30.
With this, the shipbuilder said it would set a new record in China’s shipbuilding industry by delivering 3 large LNG carriers in one month.
The shipbuilder previously said it plans to launch 11 LNG ships and complete 8 ships this year, as part of its plans to double LNG carrier production capacity.
Last year, Hudong-Zhonghua delivered record six LNG carriers.
Cosco and PetroChina
This is the sixth LNG carrier Hudong-Zhonghua built for compatriot Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation and PetroChina.
It delivered the first and second LNG carrier under the PCI project, Shaolin and Wu Dang, in 2022 and the third carrier, Kun Lun, in March last year.
Hudong-Zhonghua handed over the fourth carrier and the first under the second phase of the project, Emei, in December last year, and the fifth, Huashan, in May this year.
The shipbuilder is also building the seventh and eighth vessels under the third stage of the Cosco Shipping-PetroChina project.
United Liquefied Gas Shipping, a joint venture in which Cosco Shipping has an 81 percent stake and partner PetroChina holds the rest, ordered these last two LNG carriers in July 2023.
All eight vessels have WinGD X-DF dual-fuel engines and GTT’s NO96 L03+ containment system.
They will serve PetroChina under charter deals.