Japan’s shipping giant K Line has signed a shipbuilding contract with China’s Hudong-Zhonghua for a third medium-sized LNG carrier, according to shipbuilding sources.
The new 79,960-cbm LNG carrier is a sister vessel to the two vessels already under construction at the state-owned yard, sources told LNG Prime.
However, the new ship would have some minor modifications compared to the first two vessels, the sources said.
The sources did not reveal the price tag or the delivery date for the newbuild.
According to VesselsValue, K Line would pay about $120 million for the first two LNG carriers, each. Hudong will deliver the first two ships next year.
Such as the first two vessels, K-Line would charter the new ship to Malaysia’s Petronas, the sources said.
The first two 239 meters long carriers will transport LNG under a long-term deal the Malaysian firm previously signed with China’s Shenergy Group.
In January 2020, Petronas signed a heads of agreement with Shenergy to supply about 1.5 mtpa of LNG to the latter’s Wuhaogou receiving terminal in China from its Bintulu plant in Malaysia.
The LNG supply deal also involved a shipping collaboration to construct and charter new mid-sized LNG vessels as the Wuhaogou terminal can only receive vessels up to 90,000 cbm capacity.
As previously reported, the first two Wuhaogou-Max (W-Max) vessels will be optimized for the delivery of LNG cargoes to Shenergy’s Wuhaogou terminal.
With a draft of less than nine meters, the ships will have the capability of delivering fully laden cargoes within the channel’s permissible limits without exceeding the port’s draught limit.
The LNG carriers will feature WinGD’s dual-fuel X-DF propulsion and GTT’s NO96 L03+ containment system.
