China COSCO Shipping orders LNG trio at Hudong

China COSCO Shipping on Tuesday said it has placed an order for three liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers at Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding.

The vessels will be capable of transporting 174,000 cubic meters of LNG, each, China COSCO Shipping said in its statement.

The order is a result of the first LNG transportation project developed solely by Chinese companies including China COSCO Shipping, CNPC and CSSC.

China COSCO Shipping noted in its statement that earlier in April, the company’s unit COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation sanctioned the establishment of an LNG transport joint venture and investment in three LNG tankers.

In an earlier statement, COSCO Shipping Energy Transportation noted the price tag for each vessel is $185 million.

With the three newbuilds, COSCO’s LNG fleet will reach 41 vessels with a total cargo-carrying capacity of 6.95 million cubic meters of the chilled fuel.

The order adds to Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding’s deal it signed with Qatar Petroleum potentially worth more than 11 billion Qatari riyals ($3 billion) for up to sixteen 174,000 cubic meter LNG carriers.

To remind, the Qatari LNG shipbuilding deal reserved a major portion of Hudong’s construction capacity through the year 2027.