(Yicai) May 7 -- Chinese shipping giant China Merchants Energy Shipping has signed another deal worth CNY10 billion (USD1.3 billion) from Qatar’s state-owned petroleum giant QatarEnergy to build and lease four extra-large liquefied natural gas carriers, following a previous CNY10 billion order placed in March.

The four maximum-size LNG carriers will be built by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and each will have a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters of LNG, Shanghai-based China Merchants Energy said yesterday.

Designed and developed by Hudong-Zhonghua, they are the biggest LNG carriers in the world with 57 percent more capacity than normal LNG carriers which can carry 174,000 cbm. Deliveries should start from 2028.

QatarEnergy will then charter the LNG carriers from China Merchants Energy for a period of at least 25 years, the Shanghai-based firm said. No further details were given, including the price to lease.

It follows an earlier CNY10 billion order placed by QatarEnergy in March for six LNG carriers, each with a capacity of 174,000 cbm. South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries will build these vessels and QatarEnergy will charter the vessels for a minimum of 15 years, with the option to extend for another five or 10 years, China Merchants Energy said last month.

China Merchants Energy’s recently formed LNG transportation unit, CMES LNG Shipping, now has 28 orders for large LNG carriers, and the earliest delivery date is set for the second half of next year.

The four vessels owned by China Merchants Energy are part of a USD6 billion order for 18 LNG carriers with a capacity of 271,000 cbm each that Doha-based QatarEnergy placed with China State Shipbuilding Corp., which owns Hudong-Zhonghua, last week. The owners of the other 14 vessels are not known.

Eight vessels are expected to be delivered between 2028 and 2029 and the remaining 10 between 2030 and 2031.

Editor: Kim Taylor