MOL Delivers 6th LNG Carrier to Sinopec JV

Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) delivered LNG carrier CESI Wenzhou January 31 to a joint venture owned by China Cosco Shipping Corporation and China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), it said February 1.

The carrier was delivered at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) and is the fifth vessel to serve the LNG transport project for Sinopec announced in April 2013, and will sail under a long-term charter contract to transport LNG that it will purchase from the Australia Pacific LNG project (APLNG).

A total of six LNG carriers have been built at Hudong for the transport project and this follows the ExxonMobil LNG project, announced in March 2010, for which four LNG carriers had been delivered from Hudong by April 2016. Starting with the delivery of the first vessel in October 2016, the project has proceeded smoothly so far, MOL said.

China’s LNG imports in 2017 were at record high as demand for gas increased due to severe winters and government’s push towards encouraging household and industries to use clear fuels like natural gas instead of coal.