QatarEnergy to Add 19 LNG Vessels to Its Fleet

QatarEnergy, Qatar’s state-owned petroleum company, on Sunday said that it has signed long-term time charter party (TCP) agreements with four international ship owners for the operation of 19 new, ultra-modern conventional size LNG vessels as part of the second ship-owner tender under QatarEnergy’s historic LNG fleet expansion program.

The agreements cater for the operation of six vessels by CMES LNG Carrier Investment Inc., six vessels by Shandong Marine Energy (Singapore) Pte Ltd., and three vessels by MISC Berhad; all of which are being constructed at Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea. The remaining four vessels will be operated by a joint venture of Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd. (K-Line) and Hyundai Glovis Co. Ltd. and are being constructed at Hanwha Ocean (formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering) also in South Korea.

Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, who is also President and CEO of QatarEnergy, signed separate sets of agreements on Sunday with Wang Yongxin, President & CEO of CMES LNG Carrier Investment, Li Maozhong, Chairman of Shandong Marine Energy, Satoshi Kanamori, Managing Executive Officer of K Line, Jungsuk Kim, Vice President of Hyundai Glovis, and Captain Rajalingam Subramaniam, President & CEO of MISC Berhad.

Significant Milestone

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi described the agreements as a significant milestone in QatarEnergy’s LNG fleet expansion program, bringing the total number of ships for which it has signed TCPs to 104 vessels, a massive undertaking that is the largest shipbuilding and leasing program ever in the history of the industry.

“These ships will support our expanded LNG production capacity from the North Field in Qatar and Golden Pass in the US, while also meeting our long-term fleet replacement requirements. The ship owner selection process followed a detailed and rigorous global tender, signifying QatarEnergy’s commitment to expanding its fleet of modern LNG carriers in collaboration with world-class ship owners and in an open and transparent manner,” he said.

He also said that he was confident that the 19 vessels will be operated with the latest and most advanced safety, technical and environmental standards. This is an important undertaking that will enable QatarEnergy to continue delivering cleaner energy to the world safely and reliably.

Since 2022, QatarEnergy has signed a series of TCPs for the long-term charter and operation of 104 conventional LNG vessels, as part of its historic LNG fleet expansion program. This initiative will support QatarEnergy’s expanding LNG production capacity from the North Field LNG expansion and Golden Pass LNG export projects, as well as meeting its long-term fleet replacement requirements.

Out of the 104 ships. 43 will be chartered by QatarEnergy’s affiliate “QatarEnergy Trading”, marking it the single largest one-step ship acquisition program of any single entity in the history of the LNG industry, and placing QatarEnergy and consequently QatarEnergy Trading firmly on the road to becoming a leading global LNG trader.

The 19 conventional LNG vessels, part of the agreements, have a capacity of 174,000 cu m each and will be equipped with the latest LNG shipping technologies, embodying QatarEnergy’s ongoing endeavours to achieve optimal fuel efficiency and reduce carbon emissions.