QatarEnergy has taken its landmark LNG newbuilding haul past 100 vessels with contracts for 19 ships confirmed today.
Four shipowners shared the spoils as the latest round of deals were signed in Doha this weekend.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, president and CEO of QatarEnergy, said in a statement the development was a significant milestone and marked the conclusion of the conventional sized vessels portion of the project.
He described the initiative as a massive undertaking and the largest shipbuilding and leasing programme in the history of the industry.
Of the latest batch, Samsung Heavy Industries will build six 174,000-cbm ships each for CMES LNG Carrier Investment and Shandong Marine Energy (Singapore) and three for MISC Berhad.
The final four 174,000 vessels will come from Hanwha Ocean and be owned by a joint venture between K Line and Hyundai Glovis.
TradeWinds was first to uncover the shipowners set for secure tonnage in what is known as Phase 2 of the huge order a couple of weeks ago.
The line-up was confirmed in a statement on Sunday, following a major signing ceremony in Doha this weekend.
Al-Kaabi added: “This is an important undertaking that will enable QatarEnergy to continue delivering cleaner energy to the world safely and reliably.”
QatarEnergy first announced plans for a huge LNG newbuilding drive before the turn of the decade and began firming up tonnage in 2022.
The initiative will support its plans to expand production capacity from the North Field LNG expansion and Golden Pass LNG export projects, as well as meeting its long-term fleet replacement requirements, it said.
Gas shipowner Nakilat was the major winner in Phase 2 of the QatarEnergy project having missed out of the first phase.
