A consortium of Asian shipping heavyweights has been awarded long-term time charter contracts for seven of the LNG carriers that QatarEnergy has lined up under its huge shipbuilding project.
Partners MISC Berhad, NYK, K Line and China LNG Shipping (Holdings) Ltd will take up seven of the newbuilding slots that QatarEnergy has lined up at Hyundai Heavy Industries.
The seven LNG carriers are scheduled for delivery in 2025. They will be equipped with eco-efficient technologies such as X-DF 2.1 engines with Intelligent Control by Exhaust Recycling (iCER) System and Air Lubrication System, which will contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.
TradeWinds first reported the consortium’s participation in the QatarEnergy project in July, although China LNG was not mentioned as being a member at the time.
The consortium partners are all big names in Asian LNG shipping. MISC, which is taking part through wholly-owned subsidiary Portovenere and Lerici (Labuan), for example, is currently one of the largest single owner-operators of LNG carriers in the world, with a fleet that comprises 30 LNG carriers and two LNG floating storage units.
VesselsValue lists NYK as having 33 LNG carriers, while K Line has 14 and China LNG has six. These are the directly owned vessels, although there are more owned via joint-venture partnerships.
MISC president and group chief executive Yee Yang Chien said the company was “proud to be part of this multinational collaboration, combining together our decades of experience, knowledge and expertise in the safe, efficient and reliable transportation of LNG to support QatarEnergy’s aspirations”.
“We remain committed towards promoting a sustainable future for the LNG industry and we believe that strategic partnerships and collaboration remain the key to achieving and maintaining the industry’s growth and success in the long term as we continue to serve the energy-related needs of our customers all over the world,” Yee said.
QatarEnergy — which is conducting its huge LNG newbuilding project through compatriot producer Qatargas — has signed newbuilding and long-term charter deals on a total of 34 vessels out of a possible total of 151 berth slots agreed across four shipbuilders.
In a two-stage process, QatarEnergy declares on the reserved berths and then marries its selected owners to these slots.
The big hitters so far are JP Morgan with 12 ships at Samsung Heavy Industries and Knutsen OAS Shipping with 10 vessels at HHI. The K3 grouping of South Korean owners led by H-Line Shipping and including Pan Ocean and SK Shipping have concluded eight vessels — four each at SHI and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.
K3 is also due to ink a further two ships at SHI, project trackers said.
In China, Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines has inked four vessels at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group), with the owner expected to sign up to more tonnage.
Sources following the process closely told TradeWinds in July that a pairing of Japan’s Meiji Shipping and Iino Kaiun was being lined up to build four vessels for the Qatari project at DSME.
In addition, TMS Cardiff Gas was also being tipped as the company that may be signed up to five of the LNG newbuilding berths for Qatar at the South Korean yard.
