AW Shipping is said to have ordered two LPG-fuelled VLGC newbuildings at Jiangnan Shipyard, upping its order tally there to five.
Well-placed sources said the ships are options the company held at Jiangnan when it ordered the earlier three vessels in July.
A source familiar with AW — a joint venture of Adnoc Logistics & Services and Chinese polyurethane producer Wanhua Chemical Group — added that the vessels are due for delivery in January and March 2023.
The earlier three vessels are slated to be delivered in July, September and November of 2022.
AW was reported to have paid $73m per ship.
The 86,000-cbm VLGCs, dubbed the Panda 86P class of vessels, will comply with the IMO’s Tier III emissions regulations and the latest International Code for the Construction and Equipment of Ships Carrying Liquefied Gases in Bulk.
AW's newbuilding quintet will transport LPG from Abu Dhabi to China.
Two years ago, Abu Dhabi National Oil (Adnoc) and Wanhua Chemical signed a shipping joint venture agreement building on a 10-year LPG supply contract worth up to $12bn. They extended their tie-up when subsidiary Adnoc Logistics & Services signed a memorandum of understanding with Wanhua Chemical to form AW, to own and operate the vessels needed to transport the LPG.
Underground storage
Wanhua Chemical is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange and is the largest user of LPG in China. It uses the gas as the main feedstock for its petrochemical units and anticipates a consumption demand of up to 6 million tonnes per annum by 2021.
Wanhua Chemical also owns the world largest LPG underground storage with total capacity of 2.4 million cubic metres and has two dedicated VLGC berths.
The company is also due to take delivery of three 86,000-cbm LPG-fuelled VLGC newbuildings from Jiangnan in 2022. It has chartered the trio from Tianjin Southwest Maritime under a long-term basis. The rate and period of the charters were not disclosed.
