State-run QatarEnergy has signed deals for five LNG carriers with an Asian consortium, completing the next batch of charter contracts awarded under its massive shipbuilding program.
The consortium consists of Japan’s NYK, K Line, Malaysia’s MISC, and China LNG Shipping.
China’s Hudong-Zhonghua would build the five 174,000-cbm LNG carriers and start delivering them in 2025, according to a statement by MISC issued on Thursday.
In August, this same consortium won deals for seven LNG carriers, but South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries will build these vessels.
MISC said these five new LNG carriers would feature X-DF 2.1 engines with intelligent control by exhaust recycling (iCER) system, which cuts greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
The Malaysian LNG shipping firm did not reveal the price tag of the vessels.
In March 2021, QatarEnergy launched a tender to a large group of owners for the chartering of more than 100 LNG carriers for its future requirements related to its giant capacity expansion in Qatar and the Golden Pass terminal in the US.
Earlier this year, QatarEnergy signed charter deals for four LNG carriers with Japan’s MOL, completing the first batch of charter contracts awarded under the shipbuilding program. Hudong-Zhonghua will build these vessels as well.
After that, the firm signed contracts for more than fifty LNG carriers to be built by the three largest yards in South Korea, namely DSME, Hyundai Heavy, and Samsung Heavy.