A Yangzijiang shipyard Photo: CFP

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding Group (Yangzijiang), China’s largest private shipbuilding company, has signed a contract with a European customer for two 175,000 cubic meter LNG carriers, a breakthrough for Chinese private shipbuilders entering the liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier field, the company announced on Wednesday. 

The order was the largest one that the company has ever received and is worth over $10 billion, said Yangzijiang. The two vessels are scheduled to be delivered between 2025 and 2026. 

The vessels will be equipped with the latest membrane tanks with a technique from containment systems company GTT, making them safer and more space efficient. The dual-fuel propulsion system of the vessels will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the company. 

According to the International Energy Agency, global LNG trade is projected to increase 17 percent by 2025 compared to 2021; the previous forecast was 4 percent. Yangzijiang said vessels with a size between 170,000 and 180,000 cubic meters are the conventional size for LNG carriers, which are in high demand at present. 

“Yangzijiang is the first non-state-owned shipyard in China to break into this market, which has traditionally been dominated by the Korean shipyards,” said Ren Letian, executive chairman and CEO of Yangzijiang, noting that the success was a result of the group’s consistent development and acquisition of technologies and licenses over the years.

Recognizing the changing landscape and increased industry focus on green shipping, Yangzijiang aims to extend its foothold in this sector and hopes to capture a larger market share by capitalizing on the demand-supply gap, it said.

China’s shipbuilders have a global market share of about 50 percent, and they are now are working to provide much-needed LNG carriers amid soaring demand from Europe as it scrambles to increase natural gas storage for this winter. 

A Shanghai shipyard is utilizing 100 percent of its dock capacity and has orders until 2026, even though it's working on 18 large ships around the clock now, according to media reports.

Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co has orders for 33 large-capacity LNG ships, of which 26 are new this year, and many other projects are being negotiated.

Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co under China State Shipbuilding Co (CSSC) recently delivered a new 30,000-cubic-meter LNG carrier for Dutch shipping firm Anthony Veder.

In the first eight months of 2022, China's shipbuilding completion volume reached 23.94 million tons, accounting for 45.4 percent of the world market, and the number of new orders ranked first in the world, data from the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry showed.

Global Times