The new ships, each with a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters, will be built at China Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard, a wholly owned subsidiary of CSG
Qatar Energy and China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) signed an agreement in Beijing to jointly build 18 state-of-the-art QC-Max LNG carriers.
The new ships, each with a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters of LNG, will be built by CSSC's wholly owned subsidiary, China's Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard.
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The signing of the agreement was officiated by Saad Sherida Al Kabi, Chairman and CEO of Qatar Energy, and Chen Jianliang, Chairman of China Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co.
On April 29, China State Shipbuilding Corporation signed the world's largest shipbuilding order to build 18 ultra-large LNG (liquefied natural gas) carriers with a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters for Qatar Energy Company.
This type of ship can carry LNG at a temperature of -162°C. It can be called a "super refrigerated truck at sea" and is one of the most difficult ship types to build in the world.
The executive teams of Qatar Energy, Qatar Energy LNG and CSSC were present at the special ceremony, which was also attended by a number of senior Chinese government officials and Qatar's ambassador to China, Mohammed Abdullah Al-Dhaimi.
Al-Kaabi also pointed out that Hudong-Zhonghua is currently engaged in the construction of 12 conventional LNG carriers, the first ship of which is expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2024. Of the 18 contracted QC-Max LNG carriers, the first eight are expected to be delivered in 2028 and 2029, with the remaining ten in 2030 and 2031.
Last month, Qatar Energy announced a record number of time charters for 104 conventional-sized vessels (with a capacity of 174,000 cubic meters) in the shipbuilding and chartering sector.
In 2023, Qatar delivered nearly 17 million tons of LNG to its major customers in China and continues to be one of the country's major suppliers of crude oil (8.6 million tons), naphtha (2.3 million tons), LPG (2.2 million tons), helium (650 million cubic feet), as well as fertilizers, polymers, and other petroleum products. In addition, Qatar ships 1.6 million tons of chemicals to China each year to meet the needs of the Chinese market.
In the same year, two Chinese energy giants actively participated in Qatar's high-profile North Field expansion project.
Sinopec acquired a 1.25 percent stake in the North Field East project and a 1.875 percent stake in the North Field South project and signed a 27-year LNG purchase and sale agreement with Qatar for 7 million tons per year.
PetroChina also acquired a 1.25 percent stake in the North Field East project and signed a 27-year, 4 million tons per year LNG purchase and sale agreement.
Currently, China and South Korea have entered a phase of fierce competition for orders. Hudong-Zhonghua, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, has independently designed and built the world's largest LNG carrier, which can carry 271,000 cubic meters of LNG.
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