Malaysia’s Petronas has signed time charters with South Korean shipowner Hyundai LNG Shipping on three LNG newbuildings that are set to lift the energy company’s cargoes from the under-construction LNG Canada project.

Petronas confirmed the deal on Thursday, detailing that the 174,000-cbm vessels will be built at Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea.

The time charters were signed virtually, watched by Petronas executive vice president and chief executive of gas and new energy Adnan Zainal Abidin, Hyundai LNG Shipping president and chief executive Kyubong Lee and HHI senior executive vice president and chief operating officer SY Park.

Petronas said the ships are slated to be delivered from the second quarter of 2024 on a staggered basis and will “primarily be used to lift cargoes from LNG Canada”.

New partners

TradeWinds reported on 14 April that Petronas had homed in on Hyundai LNG Shipping for the vessels after a tender for the ships was launched last year. Previously, it worked closely with its shipping subsidiary MISC on LNG newbuilding tonnage.

The order is believed to have three optional vessels attached.

Petronas — which controls a 25% stake in the $30bn Shell-led LNG Canada project in Kitimat, British Columbia — claimed the newbuildings will be “amongst the most energy efficient LNG carriers ever built”.

It detailed the ships would have shaft generators powered by LNG, air lubrication systems, optimised hull design and enhanced performance monitoring.

“Collectively, these features will give the identical vessels the lowest carbon emission footprint in their class,” Petronas said.

Petronas said the trio expands its global LNG fleet to 27 vessels, including small, medium and large ships.

The company said the multi-sized fleet has enabled it to deliver more than 11,500 cargoes to over 25 countries from its global portfolio of supply in Malaysia, Australia, Egypt and, from 2024, Canada.

The 14-million-tonne-per-annum LNG Canada is due onstream by the middle of this decade.