Asian Shipbuilders Compete for Shell LNG Bunkering Ship

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Wednesday October 8, 2014

Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries and STX Offshore & Shipbuilding, as well as China's Avic Dingheng Shipbuilding are all locked in competition to build Royal Dutch Shell plc's new 6,500-ton liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker ship, reports local Korean media. 

The order is expected to come with options for two additional vessels of the same design, along with another 3,000-ton bunker ship. 

"As the United States steps up the production of shale gas, it is likely the demand for specialty ships such as LNG carriers, LNG bunkering ships, and ethane carriers will rise rapidly," said a Korean shipbuilding industry official.

Earlier this year, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering won a bid to construct 16 icebreaker LNG ships for the Yamal LNG project in Russia.

Samsung Heavy Industries is also set to build three icebreaker oil tankers for Russia's state-run Sovcomflot, as well as six 88,000-ton ethane carriers for India's Reliance Industries.

Shell announced earlier this year that it was pulling back on LNG production in North America after cancelling a planned liquefaction plant in Alberta.