Norwegian shipowner Knutsen has taken delivery of another 174,000-cbm LNG carrier built as part of the massive QatarEnergy shipbuilding program.
Knutsen and its unit Knutsen LNG France announced the delivery of Al Fat’h in a social media post on Tuesday.
This is the fifth LNG carrier in a series of ten that Knutsen is building and chartering to QatarEnergy.
Knutsen LNG France also said that this is the 21st LNG carrier in the company’s French fleet.
South Korea’s HD Hyundai Industries built this LNG carrier under an order announced in 2022.
Knutsen took delivery of the 174,000-cbm Mraikh, the first vessel in this batch, from HD Hyundai Heavy in June last year.
In 2024, QatarEnergy completed its massive LNG shipbuilding program, which includes the construction of 128 vessels.
The program comprises 104 conventional and 24 QC-Max size ultra-modern vessels.
South Korean yards and China’s Hudong-Zhonghua will construct these 104 conventional vessels.
Under the program, HD Hyundai Heavy will build 34 174,000-cbm LNG carriers, Samsung Heavy will build 33 vessels, Hanwha Ocean will build 25 vessels, while Hudong-Zhonghua will construct 12 ships.
Lately, there has been speculation in the LNG shipping industry that QatarEnergy may expand its massive LNG shipping program to build a new batch of vessels.
Qatar’s Energy Minister and CEO of QatarEnergy, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, said last week in Doha that QatarEnergy’s fleet of LNG carriers will rise to 200 vessels.