Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua has launched the first of six 174,000-cbm LNG carriers for Japan’s MOL and compatriot CNOOC.
Hudong-Zhonghua floated out the vessel with a working name H1880A on July 14, it said in a statement.
The shipbuilder officially kicked off work on this LNG carrier in August last year and recently held a steel-cutting ceremony for the second LNG carrier in this batch of six vessels.
MOL, in a partnership with COSCO Shipping’s unit CSLNG, ordered these vessels from Hudong-Zhonghua in January last year for about $1.17 billion.
All of the ships will serve CNOOC’s gas and power unit under long-term charter deals.
Part of Hudong-Zhonghua’s fifth-generation Changxeng series, the 299 meters long vessels will feature WinGD’s X-DF dual-fuel engines and GTT’s NO96 Super+ containment system.
The Chinese shipbuilder will deliver the vessels from 2024 through 2026.