China’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, an affiliate of China State Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC), has won a contract from Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) to build six LNG carriers.
The Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua yard said the MOL order was its largest one-time LNG order and was worth 7.5 billion Chinese yuan (around $1.75Bln).
The newbuild contract comes in partnership with Cosco Shipping LNG, also based in Shanghai.
The business unit of Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation will hold a 25 percent interest in each vessel.
The ships will deliver in 2025 and go on a charter with CNOOC Gas and Power Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), which recently signed its first US LNG supply deal with Arlington, Virginia-based Venture Global.
MOL, which has an operating fleet of almost 100 LNG carriers, is increasing its interests in the Chinese LNG market.
The Japanese company in mid-December 2021 reached an agreement with Royal Vopak, the Netherlands-based global storage company, whereby Vopak will acquire a minority stake in the “MOL FSRU Challenger” whose name will change to “Bauhinia Spirit” before being deployed as a Hong Kong LNG import terminal.
This new joint venture company between MOL and Vopak in the former British colony now ceded to China will see Vopak holding a 49.99 percent of the “Bauhinia Spirit” FSRU-owning company.
The FSRU has a storage and regasification capacity of 263,000 cubic metres and 800 million standard cubic feet per day respectively.
Under the contract, the joint venture will provide the FSRU as well as jetty operations and maintenance and port services.
