Qatargas, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Mull Cooperation

China’s CSSC Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and Qatargas could jointly work on the development and construction of LNG carriers, the Chinese company said January 15 in a statement post the visit of Qatargas management team a day earlier.

Qatargas CEO - Commercial & Shipping, Alaa Abu Jbara, said that China is an important partner for Qatar. China’s LNG demand remains strong and the LNG transportation market has great potential, he added.

Last year, Qatar invited tenders for the reservation of ship construction capacity required for the LNG carrier fleet for its North Field Expansion (NFE) Project. The LNG ship-building campaign is expected to initially deliver 60 LNG carriers in support of the planned production expansion, with a potential to exceed 100 new LNG carriers over the next decade

Hudong-Zhonghua is the leading LNG carrier builder in China and has delivered 22 large-size LNG carriers.