China’s Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation has signed a letter of intent with compatriot shipbuilder Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC) to build more LNG carriers, according to shipbuilding sources.
Sources told LNG Prime on Wednesday that the LoI includes the construction of two 175,000-cbm LNG carriers.
The vessels would be equipped with WinGD dual-fuel engines with integrated ICER system, a reliquefaction unit, and GTT’s Mark III Flex membrane containment system.
No further information has been revealed.
Based on the most recent LNG carrier order at DSIC, each LNG carrier is expected to be worth more than $235 million.
DSIC is already building three 175,000-cbm LNG carriers with the same specifications for a joint venture consisting of units of Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation and Sinopec under a deal signed in August last year.
The deal is worth about $700 million or some $233.3 million per vessel and the delivery of the vessels is expected in 2027 and 2028.
Following delivery, these LNG carriers will serve Sinopec under long-term charters deals to ship US LNG volumes Sinopec contracted from Venture Global LNG in November 2021, Sinopec previously said.
15 LNG carrier orders for DSIC
In March 2022, DSIC won its first large LNG carrier order for two ships from China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES), a unit of China Merchants Group, and after that CMES added six more vessels.
The shipbuilder recently launched the first CMES LNG carrier.
Moreover, DSIC signed a deal in August last year to build two LNG carriers for a joint venture consisting of China Gas, Wah Kwong Maritime Transport, and CSSC Shipping.
The three firms have ordered two more LNG carriers at DSIC in April this year.
DSIC currently has 15 large LNG carriers on order.
If Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation orders these two new ships, the shipbuilder would have 17 LNG carriers on order.
