(Yicai) July 13 -- Jiangnan Shipyard Group, a subsidiary of China's largest shipbuilding conglomerate China State Shipbuilding Corporation, has secured a USD900 million order from the logistics arm of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company to build four next-generation liquefied natural gas carriers.

Jiangnan Shipyard will design and build four LNG carriers with a capacity of 175,000 cubic meters each for ADNOC Logistics and Services, enabling the efficient transport of growing global gas production to meet rising global demand, according to the agreement the pair signed at a ceremony in Shanghai on July 10.

The new vessels, scheduled for delivery in 2029, will strengthen ADNOC L&S's capacity to deliver LNG to customers, supporting ADNOC's broader LNG growth strategy and its recently launched global LNG marketing and trading platform, which targets 47 million tons of combined marketable LNG by 2035.

"As global demand for natural gas continues to rise, this latest order reflects our confidence in the strong fundamentals of the LNG shipping market," said Abdulkareem Al Masabi, chief executive officer of ADNOC L&S. "Building on our robust earnings growth and diversified operations, we are investing in a next-generation fleet to efficiently connect key supply sources with high-growth demand centers and support the global energy transformation."

The latest order brings ADNOC L&S's total LNG new-build program to 18 vessels. It has already received six 175,000-cubic-meter LNG carriers from Jiangnan Shipyard, with a total value of USD1.2 billion, with eight other vessels worth about USD2.5 billion under construction at South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries and Hanwha Ocean.

Jiangnan Shipyard is also building other types of ships for ADNOC L&S. In 2024, AW Shipping, a 50:50 joint venture between ADNOC L&S and China's Wanhua Chemical Group, placed a USD1.9 billion order for four very large ammonia carriers and nine very large ethane carriers with Jiangnan Shipyard.

Of the above 13 vessels, ADNOC L&S has already received two VLECs and one VLAC last year. The VLAC has a carrying capacity of 93,000 cubic meters, ranking among the world's largest of its kind.

Since 2022, ADNOC L&S has committed to investing over USD5 billion in fleet expansion, having already received nine vessels, with 23 more scheduled for delivery through 2029.

Editor: Futura Costaglione