China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) has exercised options for LNG carrier newbuildings at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co (DSIC) and inked a letter of intent for an additional four vessels at the same shipyard.
In a regulatory filing, CMES said it signed up for two 175,000-cbm LNG ships at the state-owned shipyard, bringing the total of firm units it has placed there to four.
The two ships were optional units held at DSIC from a CMES order for two vessels earlier this year. CMES disclosed the cost of the LNG carrier newbuildings to be $200m each.
The gas carriers are being built with GTT’s Mark III Flex membrane-type containment systems and will be installed with the latest LNG dual-fuel low-speed main engine.
To meet future LNG cargo transportation requirements, CMES said it has inked a letter of intent for four similar ships — two firm plus two optional — at DSIC to be delivered between the second half of 2026 and the first quarter of 2027.
As for the firm newbuildings booked at DSIC, CMES is slated to take delivery of one ship in September 2025, the second in April 2026 and the remaining two during the second half of 2026.
Listed on the Shanghai exchange, CMES has already lined up employment contracts for three of the four firm LNG carriers.
Its subsidiary company CMES LNG Carrier Investment has signed 30-year charters with Singapore-based Sinochem Petroleum Shipping (Sinochem Oil Shipping) for three newbuildings, and the total value of the contract is $2.5bn.
It said the charters will begin from delivery, from the second half of 2025 and in 2026.
Sinochem Oil Shipping is a subsidiary of Sinochem Energy Co — a unit of Chinese state-owned Sinochem Group.
Sinochem inked a long-term LNG supply deal with Cheniere Energy in November 2021. It agreed to buy an initial volume of around 900,000 tonnes of LNG starting in July of 2022, with that amount set to increase to 1.8m tonnes for each of the subsequent 17.5 years.
DSIC is a newcomer to large LNG carrier construction. Last week, the shipyard was reported to be in close discussions with Greek shipowner Dynagas over four 200,000-cbm LNG carrier newbuildings.
