China’s Hudong-Zhonghua hosted a keel-laying ceremony on Wednesday for the first out of two K Line’s 79,960 cbm LNG carriers.
Both of these mid-sized LNG carriers will go on a charter to Malaysia’s Petronas for a period of 12 years with an option to extend the contract.
The 239 meters long vessels will ship LNG under a long-term deal the Malaysian firm signed with China’s Shenergy Group.
Furthermore, the Wuhaogou-Max (W-Max) vessels will be optimized to deliver LNG cargoes to Shenergy’s Wuhaogou terminal in Shanghai.
With a draft of less then nine meters, the ships are capable of delivering fully laden cargoes within the channel’s permissible limits without exceeding the port’s draught limit.
Moreover, both of the LNG carriers will feature WinGD’s dual-fuel X-DF engine and GTT’s NO96 containment system.
To remind, Hudong started building the first carrier in August last year.
The yard plans to deliver the mid-sized duo in the second quarter of 2022.