On February 21, Bank of Communications Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (BOCOM Leasing) officially signed a project financing loan agreement with the New Development Bank for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier project. The loan amount is RMB 1.06923 billion and will be used to finance the construction of three large LNG carriers.
According to the agreement, the funds will be used for BOCOM Leasing to purchase three large LNG carriers to help green transformation of the shipping industry.Xu Bin, Chairman of BOCOM Leasing, said the company adheres to the concept of green development and the proportion of green leasing business continues to increase. The project loan funds will be used to purchase three advanced LNG carriers built by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding.
It is understood that Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding will build at least three 174,000 m3 LNG carriers for BOCOM Leasing. The new vessels will be equipped with a low-pressure LNG dual-fuel propulsion system that meets all necessary International Maritime Organization (IMO) environmental and safety standards. Upon delivery, the new vessels will be chartered by BOCOM Leasing to Chinese LNG importers for additional LNG transportation capacity.
According to information from New Development Bank, the bank will provide RMB 1,069.23 million (about US$150 million) in loan funding for the three LNG carriers, accounting for 25% of the total investment. Based on this calculation, the total cost of the three LNG vessels will be about RMB 4.28 billion, with a single ship price of about 1.43 billion yuan (about US$ 200 million).
According to statistics, this order is the first large LNG carrier order undertaken by a Chinese shipyard in 2025. Globally, Samsung Heavy Industries received its first LNG carrier order in January to build a 180,000 m3 LNG carrier for Celsius Tankers, and on Feb. 13, Hanwha Ocean announced the construction of two 174,000 m3 LNG carriers for its newly established subsidiary Hanwha Shipping.
The New Development Bank, also known as the BRICS Development Bank (BRICS Development Bank), is an international financial institution established on the joint initiative of the BRICS countries of Brazil (B), Russia (R), India (I), China (C) and South Africa (S).
The relevant person in charge of the New Development Bank said that this loan is the first time for the bank to carry out non-sovereign loans to Chinese non-bank financial institutions, and it is one of the specific actions to support China to realize the “double carbon” goal. The project is a key project supported by the New Development Bank in the field of clean energy and energy efficiency improvement, which is an important practice for the New Development Bank to expand its non-sovereign business and serve the sustainable development strategy of member countries.