China’s Shenzhen Gas has officially signed a deal that involves building one LNG carrier with compatriot Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding.
Hudong said in a statement the duo signed the contract on Monday. The deal includes an option for one additional vessel.
To remind, Shenzen Gas said earlier this month it approved investment into the 79,960-cbm LNG carrier, marking its first entry into the liquefied natural gas shipping business.
The city gas distributor said it would order the vessel for about $121 million, while the total costs of the project would reach about $140 million. The firm also aims to establish a unit that will own the vessel.
Furthermore, the vessel would feature GTT’s NO96 containment system and serve its facility at Yantian port in the city of Shenzhen with an annual capacity of 800,000 tonnes, according to Shenzhen Gas. The facility has one LNG jetty and an 80,000 cbm storage tank.
The vessel should join Shenzhen Gas in January 2023.
Hudong is already building two similar LNG carriers for Japan’s shipping giant K-Line which will go on charter to Petronas.
These 239 meters long vessels feature WinGD’s dual-fuel X-DF engine and GTT’s NO96 containment system.
In addition, the duo has a shallow draft of less than nine meters, which would also be a feature of the newly ordered ship, according to Hudong.