The first liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier made in China was to be delivered to China's only shipping firm that specialises in the transport of LNG later yesterday, a company executive said, nearly four months behind schedule.
'The delay was no surprise to us because it was the first time that China has made the special-purpose tanker,' Xu Jianping, deputy general manager of China LNG Shipping Co, said yesterday.
The carrier, which cost US$160 million and has 147,000 cubic metres or nearly 70,000 tonnes of capacity, would soon set sail on the Guangdong-Australia route, replacing part of the service now supplied by foreign carriers, Mr Xu said. He did not give a time frame.
Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co Ltd, the maker, will deliver another LNG carrier to China LNG Shipping this year and a third one in the first half of 2009 for the Guangdong LNG project, a shipyard official said. Both are behind schedule.
'The postponed delivery of the first LNG tanker was mainly due to some problems with parts supplied by foreign firms,' he said. He did not explain the delays with the other vessels.
The shipyard is also building two LNG carriers for the Fujian LNG project, which will receive its first spot LNG cargo late this month from Algeria, although formal operation is expected to start in early 2009.
Guangdong started to take in the clean fuel, under a long-term contract, from Australia in June 2006.
It has also been scouring spot cargoes around the world recently due to rising demand, and aims to double its spot cargoes in 2008 from seven last year, an executive with the operator, Guangdong Dapeng LNG Company, said last month.
'The delay was no surprise to us because it was the first time that China has made the special-purpose tanker,' Xu Jianping, deputy general manager of China LNG Shipping Co, said yesterday.
The carrier, which cost US$160 million and has 147,000 cubic metres or nearly 70,000 tonnes of capacity, would soon set sail on the Guangdong-Australia route, replacing part of the service now supplied by foreign carriers, Mr Xu said. He did not give a time frame.
Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co Ltd, the maker, will deliver another LNG carrier to China LNG Shipping this year and a third one in the first half of 2009 for the Guangdong LNG project, a shipyard official said. Both are behind schedule.
'The postponed delivery of the first LNG tanker was mainly due to some problems with parts supplied by foreign firms,' he said. He did not explain the delays with the other vessels.
The shipyard is also building two LNG carriers for the Fujian LNG project, which will receive its first spot LNG cargo late this month from Algeria, although formal operation is expected to start in early 2009.
Guangdong started to take in the clean fuel, under a long-term contract, from Australia in June 2006.
It has also been scouring spot cargoes around the world recently due to rising demand, and aims to double its spot cargoes in 2008 from seven last year, an executive with the operator, Guangdong Dapeng LNG Company, said last month.