Sources told LNG Prime on Thursday that the order with China Merchants Cruise Shipbuilding in Jiangsu comprises three firm LNG-dual-fuel vessels and three optional vessels.
Designed by SDARI, the container vessels will have a capacity of 22,000 teu, the sources said.
Also, the vessels are expected to feature type C LNG tanks.
This is reportedly the first order for China Merchants Cruise Shipbuilding in Jiangsu, also known as CMHI Haimen, for LNG dual-fuel containerships.
No further information has been revealed.
According to Alphaliner, MSC is the world’s largest liner with 6,656,693 teu and a 20.5 percent share.
MSC is also one of the world’s largest backers of LNG as fuel. It is building a huge fleet of LNG dual-fuel container vessels.
Earlier this year, sources said that MSC booked six more LNG dual-fuel vessels with a capacity of 22,000 teu from China’s Hengli Heavy Industry, a part of Hengli Group.
With this order, Hengli Heavy will build a total of 26 LNG dual-fuel vessels for MSC.
The global LNG-fueled fleet, led by container vessels, continues to grow.
DNV’s most recent data shows that 736 LNG-powered ships are in operation and 633 LNG-fueled vessels are on order.
The data shows that 188 LNG-powered containerships are in operation, and 345 LNG-powered containerships are on order.
