Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua has on Sunday launched two liquefied natural gas carriers as it looks to deliver in total eight LNG vessels this year, according to LNG Prime.
The shipbuilder said in a statement that it is for the first time building four large LNG carriers at the same time at the No. 2 dock of the Changxing shipbuilding base, with two of these LNG carriers floated and two of them were half-floated on the same day.
Hudong-Zhonghua said this is part of the shipbuilder’s plans to double LNG carrier production capacity.
It is currently building 16 LNG carriers. The shipbuilder plans to launch 11 ships and to complete 8 ships this year, marking a new record for the annual completion and delivery of LNG carriers in China, it said.
Last year, Hudong-Zhonghua delivered record six LNG carriers.
Hudong-Zhonghua said that it currently has more than 50 LNG carriers on order, including more than 30 fifth-generation vessels, with delivery dates stretching until 2028.
The shipbuilder did not provide much information on the launched LNG vessels. Their hull names are H1792A and H1836A.
In October last year, Hudong held keel-laying ceremonies for these two LNG carriers it is building for Japan’s MOL and China’s Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation.
The LNG carrier with a hull number H1792A is the third vessel being built for MOL and Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation.
In April 2022, state-run LNG giant QatarEnergy signed charter deals for four LNG carriers with MOL, completing the first batch of charter contracts awarded under its massive shipbuilding program.
Also, the four vessels, part of Hudong-Zhonghua’s fifth-generation Changxeng series, are 299 meters long and 46.4 meters wide.
As per the LNG carrier with a hull number H1836A, this is the sixth LNG carrier Hudong-Zhonghua is building for Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation and PetroChina.
All of the LNG vessels feature WinGD X-DF dual-fuel engines and also GTT’s NO96 L03+ containment system.
The 295 meters long ships will serve PetroChina under charter contracts.