China’s Hudong-Zhonghua delivers its 50th LNG carrier

Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua has delivered its 50th liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier.

The vessel is the 174,000-cbm LNG carrier, Al Tuwar, built under the massive QatarEnergy shipbuilding program, which includes the construction of 128 ships.

CSSC’s Hudong-Zhonghua said this is the fifth LNG carrier of the QatarEnergy shipbuilding program and the 50th LNG ship built by the shipbuilder.

Also, this is the first of a series of LNG carriers that a joint venture company comprising Japan’s NYK, K Line, Malaysia’s MISC, and China’s CLNG will build for QatarEnergy.

It is also the first LNG carrier that NYK is involved in building in China.

The vessel is equipped with the X-DF 2.1 iCER engine, a dual-fuel engine that uses fuel oil and boil-off gas as fuel, and GTT’s NO96 L03+ membrane containment system.

In addition, the 299-meter-long LNG carrier is also equipped with a reliquefaction device that uses surplus boil-off gas.

Hudong-Zhonghua delivered eight large LNG carriers last year, setting a new record for the Chinese shipbuilding industry.

In 2023, Hudong-Zhonghua delivered six LNG carriers.

The shipbuilder previously said it plans to deliver more than 10 large LNG vessels in 2025.