On December 9, COSCO SHIPPING Energy Transportation Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “COSCO SHIPPING Energy”) issued the “Resolution Announcement of the 14th Board of Directors Meeting in 2024”. The meeting reviewed and approved the “Proposal on Shanghai COSCO SHIPPING LNG and MOL to cooperate in investing in the construction of six 271,000 cubic meter Q-Max LNG carriers for QatarEnergy Phase II”.
The announcement disclosed that the board of COSCO Shipping Energy has approved the acquisition by its wholly-owned subsidiary Shanghai COSCO Shipping ING, through its wholly-owned subsidiary in Hong Kong, Yuanhai LNG Investment, of a 50% stake in each of six single-ship companies owned by Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL). This acquisition involves investing in the construction of six Q-Max type LNG carriers, each with a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters.
According to the announcement, six single-ship companies will sign a project charter contract with QatarEnergy and will undertake the construction contract of six 271,000 cubic meter Q-Max LNG carriers signed by QatarEnergy and Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding. The total investment of the contract is about RMB 14.95 billion. COSCO SHIPPING Energy will increase the capital of Shanghai COSCO SHIPPING LNG by about RMB 1.92 billion with its own funds, and Shanghai COSCO SHIPPING LNG will increase the capital of its subsidiary Yuanhai LNG Investment by about RMB 1.92 billion. Later, Yuanhai LNG Investment will invest in shipbuilding in the six single-ship companies.
According to previous reports, on September 9th, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding signed a contract with QatarEnergy for the construction of six of the world’s largest 271,000 cubic meter ultra-large LNG carriers, which will be delivered between 2028 and 2031. This is in addition to the “contract of the century” signed on April 29th in Beijing for the construction of 18 ships of the same type, marking another collaboration between the two parties. With this, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding has secured orders for a total of 24 ultra-large LNG carriers, each with a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters, firmly establishing its position as a leading innovator in the global ultra-large LNG sector.
According to QatarEnergy, the total value of the 24 LNG carriers is approximately US$8 billion, and the cost of each ship is approximately US$333 million.
With COSCO SHIPPING Energy confirming its investment in six new ships, the shipowners of the 24 world’s largest LNG carriers built by Hudong-Zhonghua have now all been confirmed.
Among them, the charter contracts for 9 QC-Max LNG carriers were signed on April 29 this year, with China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) under China Merchants Group, Shandong Marine Energy (Singapore) under Shandong Ocean Group, and China LNG Shipping (Holdings) Co., Ltd. (CLNG) under COSCO SHIPPING Energy signing contracts for 4, 3, and 2 ships respectively. The other 9 ships were signed on May 8 this year, with Qatar gas shipping company Nakilat becoming the owner and operator of the 9 new ships.
It is reported that this type of LNG carrier was independently developed and designed by Hudong-Zhonghua, and obtained the Approval in Principle (AiP) certificates issued by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Lloyd’s Register (LR), Bureau Veritas (BV), DNV, and China Classification Society (CCS) in September 2023. This is the world’s largest LNG carrier to date, which means that China’s LNG carrier research, development, design and construction has officially entered the ultra-large field, and it also marks that China’s high-end ship research and development and design capabilities have taken a big step towards the goal of leading the world.
It is understood that QatarEnergy has so far ordered 128 LNG carriers from four Chinese and Korean shipyards, including 104 conventional-sized 174,000 cubic meter LNG carriers and 24 271,000 cubic meter QC-Max LNG carriers. Korean shipyards received a total of 98 conventional-sized orders, and the remaining orders were taken by Chinese shipyards.
Hudong-Zhonghua has received orders for a total of 12 174,000 cubic meter LNG carriers and 24 QC-Max LNG carriers. Both the contract amount and gas carrying capacity are ranked first among all shipyards in the world, achieving a historic leap from catching up and parallel to leading.