LNG

Samsung Heavy Industries has secured an order worth 672.20 billion South Korean Won (US$504m) to two LNG carriers, which brings the company’s total order backlog to 46 commercial vessels and orders worth over US$8 billion this year.

Malaysian shipping group MISC has accepted a letter of award from Petronas for the charter of five additional LNG carriers, committing to a newbuilding programme at China’s Hudong-Zhonghua, with construction due to begin in 2027 and deliveries targeted for 2030.

Zodiac Maritime has entered the LNG carrier market by ordering two firm 174,000 cu m vessels, plus options for two more, from South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean in a deal valued at 680 billion won (about $500 million). Delivery of the vessels is scheduled for November 2029.

Sept 21 – Pakistan has arranged safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, following negotiations with Iran, allowing an LNG carrier loaded at Qatar’s Ras Laffan terminal to transit the strait over the weekend. According to ship-tracking data, the LNGC is expected to arrive in Pakistan by Tuesday.

ADNOC Logistics and Services has exercised options to get two additional next-generation LNG carriers built at China’s Jiangnan shipyard, further expanding its fleet renewal programme. The two vessels, worth $444 million combined, are due for delivery in 2029.

Two LNG tankers seem to have conducted a ship-to-ship (STS) transfer outside the Strait of Hormuz, as suppliers seek to keep fuel moving from inside the Persian Gulf to global markets.

Nine workers were killed and several others injured after hydrogen sulfide gas accumulated in a ballast tank of the former 138,000-m³ LNG carrier HL Ras Laffan (now Rasi, IMO 9176008) during dismantling at the Ferdous Steel yard in Sitakunda, Bangladesh. The Department of Explosives said the H₂S built up in a ballast area, not an LNG cargo tank, and measured 10.8 ppm about four hours after the incident on August 15, with officials suspecting concentrations may have exceeded 100 ppm at the time of exposure. The Ferdous Steel was ordered to suspend operations pending a safety audit.

A second Russian-build ice-class LNG carrier, the Konstantin Posiet, is heading to Asia via the Northern Sea Route, underscoring Moscow’s push to sustain Arctic LNG exports despite Western sanctions.

Asyad Shipping has agreed to sell minority stakes in the companies that own its two newest carriers, Muscat LNG and Musandam LNG, to two Omani investors. The deal leaves Asyad with 80% of each vessel-owning company and brings domestic capital into the group’s gas-shipping platform.

ADNOC Logistics & Services has placed an order for four LNG carriers at China’s Jiangnan Shipyard in a deal valued at around US$900 million. Each of the newbuild vessels will have a capacity of 175 000 cubic meters and is scheduled for delivery in 2029.