China Starts Construction of World's Largest LNG Carrier for QatarEnergy

Illustration: China Daily

China has started building the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier for QatarEnergy. The project is part of a giant contract worth more than 56 billion yuan or about US$8.3 billion.

China State Shipbuilding Corp (CSSC), as reported by China Daily quoted Tuesday, June 9, the Chinese state-owned shipyard company, started construction of the first QC-Max class ship on Tuesday.

The unnamed ship was built at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, a CSSC subsidiary based in Shanghai.

CSSC and QatarEnergy signed two contracts in 2024 to build 24 QC-Max class LNG vessels. The combined contract is said to be the largest vessel order ever recorded in the world shipping industry.

Each ship is 344 meters long, 53.6 meters wide, and loaded with 12 meters of water. The water load is the part of the ship that is below the water surface when sailing.

Its carrying capacity reaches 271,000 cubic meters of LNG. This amount is about 57 percent larger than that of a regular LNG vessel, which generally carries up to 174,000 cubic meters.

In one trip, one QC-Max vessel can carry about 155 million cubic meters of natural gas. That amount is enough to meet the gas needs of 4.7 million households in Shanghai for one month.

QatarEnergy, formerly known as Qatar Petroleum, is a state-owned company of Qatar that manages all of the country's oil and gas activities. The company is known as one of the world's major LNG suppliers.

Hudong-Zhonghua is one of the few shipyards in the world capable of building large-sized LNG vessels. The shipyard based in Shanghai has delivered dozens of LNG vessels to customers in various countries.

This project adds to Hudong-Zhonghua's portfolio in the construction of large-sized LNG vessels for the global market.