Yamal set to receive first Chinese LNG carrier

The 16.5mn t/yr Yamal LNG project's shipping capacity is set to increase, with its first Chinese-built LNG carrier leaving China's Hudong shipyard.

The 174,000m³ LNG Dubhe — the first of four vessels built at the Hudong shipyard for Yamal — left the port of Shanghai on 7 November and is likely heading to Europe via Singapore.

A joint venture between Japanese shipping firm Mitsui OSK Lines (Mol) and China's state-owned maritime industry conglomerate Cosco will own the four vessels, which will be used to transport Yamal LNG from European terminals and transshipment facilities, such as Norway's Honningsvag and Russia's Murmansk, under time charters signed in 2017. But all four vessels have been granted concessions to use the Northern Sea Route, despite not having Arc 7 ice classifications.

When delivered to Yamal, the vessels could curb the project's demand for short-term charters. Yamal fixed at least seven vessels under such charters last winter — such as the 173,400m³ Flex Endeavour and 160,000m³ Corcovado LNG — allowing it to transport LNG at Honningsvag in November 2018-June 2019 for delivery to regasification terminals in the Atlantic and Pacific basins. Some of the seven vessels fixed over this period have been heard open on the spot charter market in recent weeks.

By Samuel Good