(hereinafter referred to as: CIMC Pacific Offshore & Engineering), a subsidiary of CIMC ENRIC, has successfully signed an order for 2+2 medium-sized LPG carriers with Avance Gas, a leading global LPG carrier owner, with a contract value of nearly RMB 900 million.
This is CIMC Pacific Offshore’s first order for the construction of 40,000 cu.m. LPG liquid ammonia carriers, marking a further breakthrough in CIMC’s design and construction capability for small LPG carriers, and filling the gap in CIMC Pacific Offshore’s A-berth LPG carrier product sequence.
Schematic diagram of Type A liquefied gas carrier
Partnership with industry giant fills gap in CIMC’s A-berth liquefied natural gas vessels
This is the first cooperation between CIMC Pacific Offshore & Marine and Avance Gas. The order is for the construction of two 40,000m3 LPG/Liquid Ammonia carriers and two alternative vessels of the same type.
As a new generation of medium-sized LPG carriers, the vessel will be equipped with three A-type cargo tanks, which can effectively save cabin capacity and improve the economic performance of the vessel.
The vessel can carry a wide range of LPG cargoes such as LPG, liquid ammonia, vinyl chloride monomer and other liquefied petroleum gas cargoes, which can meet the needs of cargo exchange and transportation.
As an important carrier of zero-carbon energy as well as hydrogen energy for storage and transportation, the production and trade of liquid ammonia is expected to continue to grow. According to industry data, global ammonia trade is forecast to reach approximately 240 million tonnes by 2050, a 13-fold increase from 2021, of which 70% will be green or blue ammonia. The size of the medium-sized LNG carrier acquired this time matches well with the scale of liquid ammonia batch trade transportation, and the vessel is expected to become the backbone of zero-carbon energy transportation in the future.
It is understood that this order makes a new breakthrough in both the design and construction of the vessel type as well as the cabin capacity, filling the gap in the product sequence of CIMC Pacific Offshore & Marine’s A-class LNG carriers.
Delivering more than 40 LPG vessels of various types, CIMC Pacific Offshore ranks among the top in the global market share
Benefiting from the shipping replacement cycle and the tightening of environmental protection and emission reduction requirements, the LPG vessel market has gradually heated up in the past two years, ushering in a long-term high boom cycle for the shipbuilding industry and steadily increasing prices for new vessels. As of June 2, the Clarkson Newbuilding Price Index reached 170.40 points, up for the 19th consecutive week and 11% from the beginning of 2022, hitting a new high since January 2019.
CIMC Pacific Offshore & Marine has focused on the liquefied gas vessel sector for 15 years, with independent design, construction and project management capabilities for marine liquid tanks, fuel tanks and complete vessels. It has successfully delivered more than 40 various types of LNG vessels including the world’s largest new-build 20,000 cubic metre LNG carrier refuelling vessel and the world’s first 5,000 cubic metre dual-fuel full-pressure LPG vessel, and has the highest market share in the world.
As the market leader in the segment of LPG vessels of 40,000 cubic meters and below, CIMC Pacific Offshore & Marine has recently won a series of orders for over RMB 1 billion LNG bunker tanks and over RMB 1 billion 2+2 1,450 TEU LNG dual-fuel container vessels.
Gao Wenbao, Vice President and General Manager of CIMC Pacific Offshore & Marine, said that CIMC Pacific Offshore & Marine has continued to deepen its efforts to build a full range of medium-sized LNG tankers, and its current products cover various LPG, ethane, ethylene, LNG, liquid ammonia and other LPG carriers. In the future, it will continue to enrich its products and services and continue to provide customers with energy-saving, environmentally friendly and technically innovative integrated LPG transportation solutions.