Country's shipbuilders chart new waters

Never alone

Hudong-Zhonghua has mastered the techniques for building the world's most advanced LNG carrier, but has faced competition.

In 2002, when it bid to build China's first self-developed LNG carrier, it was confronted by a major domestic contender, Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co, another unit of CSSC based in Shanghai.

Hu Keyi, chief of corporate technology at Jiangnan Shipyard, said, "We created a research and development team for LNG carriers as early as 1997."

However, the shipyard, which dates to 1865, lost out to Hudong-Zhonghua, as it had insufficient construction facilities for the vessel.

Hu said Jiangnan Shipyard, which at the time was located in downtown Shanghai, simply could not afford to build large vessels such as a 147,000-cu-m LNG carrier. "But we have never given up on the LNG program, and continue our research and development," Hu added.

In 2008, when the shipyard moved to Changxing Island in Shanghai, it expanded its construction facilities significantly and chose a different path to build its own LNG carrier, starting with smaller vessels.

In 2020, Jiangnan Shipyard won its first order for a medium-size LNG ship with a capacity of 80,000 cu m. In March last year, Jiangnan Shipyard and Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co, located in the coastal city of Dalian, Liaoning province, received their first large-scale LNG carrier orders, adding two more Chinese shipyards to the construction market for large LNG vessels.

Soaring demand

Song said the soaring orders for LNG vessels will boost China's shipbuilding industry in terms of quantity and quality.

When orders held by the domestic LNG ship building sector reach a record scale, this will not only promote the high quality development of the nation's shipbuilding industry, but also ensure energy security, Song said.

China can form a strong and complete LNG industrial chain, Song added.

"There appeared to be explosive global demand for LNG last year due to the worldwide pursuit of carbon neutrality, and a logistics restructuring. Meanwhile, China's LNG demands require massive transportation for such energy," Song said.

Against this backdrop, LNG carriers have become popular in the shipbuilding market.

A total of 182 orders for such ships were placed last year, compared with 83 in 2021, and the number more than tripled the past five years' average of 59, China Newsweek reported, citing data from Clarksons Research.

China imported more than 77 million tons of LNG in 2021, a rise of 18 percent year-on-year, General Administration of Customs statistics show.

Although the comparable figure for last year declined for the first time in seven years, China's LNG imports this year are expected to rise by more than 6 percent year-on-year, the International Energy Agency forecast in its latest Gas Market Report.