Chinese Yard Wins $552mn Order for LNGCs
China's Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard has won a contract for the construction of three 174,000-m3 LNG carriers (LNGs) worth yuan 3.9bn ($552mn), official state media in Shanghai reported in June 30.
The order was placed by China's Cosco Shipping and the vessels will be used to transport LNG on behalf of state oil giant CNPC. Their construction is a response to growing domestic demand for LNG, Jiefang Daily cited an official at Cosco Shipping as saying.
The new ships will bring the total number of LNGCs under Cosco Shipping's control to 41, the newspaper reported. They have a combined storage capacity of over 6.94mn m3 of LNG.
A "significant" share of Hudong-Zhonghua's LNGC construction capability through 2027 was reserved in April by Qatar Petroleum (QP), which is expanding its LNGC fleet to handle gas from its North Field expansion project. That deal is potentially worth more than riyals 11bn ($3bn), according to QP.