MOL names latest addition to QatarEnergy’s growing LNG fleet

Japan’s shipping giant Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL) has hosted a naming ceremony for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier it is building for QatarEnergy’s massive fleet expansion program at the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding shipyard in China.

The vessel was named Limail after what MOL says is a picturesque region in Qatar, known for its evergreen trees. The Chinese shipyard previously hosted the naming ceremony for two LNG vessels–Rex Tillerson and Umm Ghuwailina–in September 2024, and for one ship, called Hlaitan, in December 2024.

Additionally, four ships built at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) and Hanwha Ocean shipyards in South Korea were also named after locations in Qatar in November 2024.

Limail is the fourth of the seven LNG carriers ordered by QatarEnergy in April and November 2022. These vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2027.

Last month, MOL signed a long-term time charter contract with the Qatari giant for six additional LNG vessels, for a total of 13 LNG vessels bound for the North Field expansion project.

Shared between Iran and Qatar and known as South Pars on the Iranian side, the 1971-discovered North Field is described as the world’s largest single non-associated natural gas field.

The North Field LNG expansion program encompasses the North Field East (NFE), the North Field South (NFS), and North Field West (NFW) projects to increase Qatar’s LNG production capacity from 77 to 142 million tons per annum (mtpa) in 2030.​

McDermott recently secured an engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for the NFS project. The U.S. player will work on almost 250 kilometers of offshore and onshore gas pipelines connecting five new offshore wellhead platforms with two new onshore LNG trains in addition to subsea composite power and control cables.