Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) Ltd. awarded Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua, a subsidiary of China Shipbuilding Corp. (CSSC), an order for six 174,000-cu m Changheng-series LNG carriers. MOL will charter the ships to China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) Gas & Power.
CNOOC Gas & Power last year reached agreement with Venture Global LNG Inc. for 3.5 million tonnes/year of LNG to be loaded from Venture Global’s Louisiana LNG plants (OGJ Online, Dec. 22, 2021).
The shipbuilding contract is worth $1.18 billion.
China in 2021 passed Japan to become the world’s largest LNG importer. CNOOC Gas & Power is China’s biggest LNG importer.
