Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua has launched the first 79,960-cbm liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier for compatriot Shenzhen Gas.
Hudong-Zhonghua floated out the 239 meters long river-sea vessel, Dapeng Princess, on Wednesday, according to a statement.
Shenzhen Gas ordered this mid-sized vessel in March last year, marking its first entry into the LNG shipping business.
One month later, Hudong-Zhonghua started building the ship that features GTT’s NO96 L03+ membrane containment system and WinGD dual-fuel engines.
The city gas distributor previously said that it it would invest about $140 million in the project and the vessel would serve its facility at Yantian port in the city of Shenzhen with an annual capacity of 800,000 tonnes.
Shenzhen Gas expects to take delivery of the ship in January 2023.
As of next year, the firm will start receiving LNG supplies under a long-term deal it signed with a unit of BP in 2021.
Under the contract, Shenzhen Gas will take about 225,000 to 300,000 tons a year of LNG from BP China, starting from January 2023 and ending in December 2032.
Third COSCO LNG carrier
Besides the Shenzhen Gas vessel, Hudong-Zhonghua also floated out on Wednesday the 174,000-cbm LNG carrier, Kun Lun, for compatriot shipowner COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation.
This is the third LNG carrier under the PCI project.
Hudong-Zhonghua launched the first vessel in November last year and the second in January this year.
All of the vessels feature WinGD X-DF dual-fuel engines and GTT’s NO96 L03+ containment system.
Following delivery in 2022 and 2023, the three carriers will transport LNG for CNPC’s Hong Kong-listed unit PetroChina.
