China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC) inked on April 29 an agreement with Qatar Energy to build 18 super-big liquid natural gas (LNG) transport ships, the world’s biggest shipbuilding order.
Carrying liquid natural gas under -163 Celsius, LNG transport ships are dubbed the “marine super-big cold store” and regarded as the world’s most difficult to build.
The 18 ships of 271,000 cubic meters will be designed and built by CSSC’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group based in Shanghai. They will be 344 meters long and 53.6 meters wide with a draught of 12 meters. Compared with ordinary 174,000-cubic meter LNG ships, the 18 super-big ships, according to chief engineer Song Wei, are designed to carry 57 percent more cargo and consume 9.9 percent less energy per ton per nautical mile.
Song said that the ships, thanks to their optimized designs for draught and stowage, can dock at more than 70 ports worldwide.
The vessels reportedly valued at US$6 billion in total are scheduled to be delivered in batches between 2028 and 2031.
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