South Korea’s Hanwha Ocean held on Friday a naming ceremony for one 174,000-cbm LNG carrier it built for Japan’s shipowner MOL and charterer France’s TotalEnergies.
The vessel, named MOL Azure, was ordered by a unit of MOL and is slated to sail under a time charter contract with TotalEnergies Gas & Power Limited (TGPL), a subsidiary of TotalEnergies.
MOL said the vessel bears its company name to “clearly indicate that it is at the core of MOL group’s LNG carrier fleet” while Azure means “blue” in French.
Upon delivery on January 14, the vessel will be the second LNG carrier to be chartered by TGPL under a time charter contract signed in October 2022.
MOL said the LNG carrier will depart for its first loading port in the US.
The 294.9 meters long vessel features MAN ME-GA engines, which offer “improved fuel efficiency and are more environmentally friendly than those installed on current LNG carriers,” MOL claims.
