Hudong-Zhonghua to build four LNG carriers

Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co received its first overseas order to build four LNG carriers to be used on cross-continental shipping routes. The order comes after Hudong-Zhonghua unveiled its LNG carrier, the first to be built domestically, in 2008.

Analysts say it provides international recognition of China s rapidly improving technology in the area. The deal is a new milestone in the history of China s development and building of LNG ships, laying the foundation for us to have a greater presence in the global and domestic market, the company said in a statement.

Hudong-Zhonghua, the Shanghai-based unit of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, announced on January 15 that it had entered into an agreement with the Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines and Exxon Mobil Corp to build four LNG carriers to ship LNG to China from projects in Papua New Guinea and Australia.

The ships will be delivered between 2015 and 2016. Hudong-Zhonghua didn t disclose the price.

As of March 2010, there were only 337 LNG carriers engaged in the transport of LNG, mostly built in the United States, South Korea and Japan, according to Shipbuilding History, an online shipping database. Customs figures show China imported 5.53 million tons of LNG in 2009, up 66% from a year earlier. Based on the current import growth, China would need more than 65 LNG carriers by 2015, Cao Yousheng, Director of the China Shipbuilding Economic Research Center, said.