China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) controlled Jiangnan Shipyard has confirmed its first export LNG carrier newbuilding contract.
The Chinese state-owned shipyard has sealed a deal with Middle Eastern shipowner Adnoc Logistics & Services (Adnoc L&S) for two 175,000-cbm LNG carriers.
The deal is said to include options for two additional vessels.
Adnoc has ordered the ships to help replace its ageing fleet of eight Moss-type, steam turbine vessels.
News of the order was first reported in TradeWinds on 2 March.
According to CSSC, Jiangnan will be the first shipyard in China to have contracted LNG carriers that will be built with GTT’s Mark III Flex membrane-type containment system.
The design of the 175,000-cbm LNG vessel was developed by Jiangnan.
The Shanghai yard did not disclose the price of the ships but shipbuilding sources put it to be about $200m each.
The yard is scheduled to deliver the pair of newbuildings in 2025.
Adnoc also has five co-owned LPG-fuelled 86,000-cbm VLGC newbuildings under construction at Jiangnan Shipyard. It co-ordered the quintet with Chinese polyurethane producer Wanhua Chemical Group in 2020 for a reported price of $73m per ship.
Jiangnan is scheduled to deliver three vessels in July, September and November of 2022, and the remaining two in January and March 2023.
Established in 1867, Jiangnan is the oldest shipyard in China. The company is reputed for building gas carriers, as it was the country’s first shipyard to break into the sector by winning a domestic order to build a 3,000-cbm pressurised LPG carrier in the late 1980s.
