QatarEnergy signed long-term time charter party (TCP) agreements with four international shipowners 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, six vessels by Shandong Marine Energy (Singapore), 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.

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

Commenting on this occasion, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, said: “Signings form a significant milestone in QatarEnergy’s LNG fleet expansion program, as it marks the conclusion of the conventional sizes vessels portion of program, bringing the total number of ships for which we have 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 U.S., while also meeting our long-term fleet replacement requirements. The careful shipowner 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 shipowners and in an open and transparent manner.”