Doha’s QatarEnergy has boosted its QC-Max size LNG vessel orders to 18, inking contracts with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), at a cost of $6 billion.
The deal was revealed by QatarEnergy on Monday mentioning that the massive newbuilding project for 18 ultra-modern QC-Max size LNG vessels marks a significant addition to its historic LNG fleet expansion program.
As it is reported, the new vessels with a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters each, will be constructed at China’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard, a CSSC wholly-owned subsidiary.
In accordance with the plan, eight of the 18 QC-Max size LNG vessels will be delivered in 2028 and 2029, while the other ten will be delivered in 2030 and 2031.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the president and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: “With a total value of almost 6 billion dollars for these ultra-modern, largest ever LNG vessels by size, the agreement we signed today is the industry’s largest single shipbuilding contract ever.
“It is our honor to continue working with China State Shipbuilding Corporation and Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard to develop and build some of the top-tier LNG vessels renowned for their exceptional environmental qualities.”
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi also highlighted that 12 conventional-size LNG vessels are currently under construction at Hudong-Zhonghua, and that delivery of the first such vessels is expected by the third quarter of this year.
Last month, QatarEnergy announced the signing of time charter party deals for a total of 104 conventional-size vessels (174,000 cubic meters), constituting the largest shipbuilding and leasing program ever in the history of the industry.
It’s worth mentioning that Qatari LNG supplies to its main customers in China reached last year almost 17 million tons.
Also in 2023, Qatar was one of the major suppliers of crude oil (equivalent of 8.6 million tons), naphtha (2.3 million tons), LPG (2.2 million tons), helium (650 million cubic feet), and fertilizers, polymers and chemicals (1.6 million tons) to the Chinese market.
