Qatar signs deal for first of 120 LNG newbuilding slots with Chinese shipbuilder
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Topics: QATAR LNG
The report added that other agreements with South Korean shipbuilders are set to follow.
The contract with the Chinese shipbuilder involves 16 units — eight confirmed units plus eight optional units. They will be delivered between 2024 and 2025. Each vessel is approximately 175,000 cubic meters in size and costs approximately US$180 million.
The agreement marks the start of the world’s largest LNG carrier procurement project by Qatar. The project has received much attention from the three major Korean shipbuilders — Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME). They all submitted a final proposal, as did China’s Hudong-Zhonghua.
“This agreement was reportedly reached on the condition that China buys natural gas from Qatar. In other words, Hudong-Zhonghua did not beat the Korean companies in the actual tender,” said an industry insider. ■