Tokyo-based shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has taken delivery of the 172,000 cbm LNG carrier Papua built by China’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding.
The Papua is the first in a series of four ships to be built by Hudong, a wholly owned subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, to provide LNG transportation for the PNG LNG project in Papua New Guinea and the Gorgon Jansz LNG project in Australia.
MOL will operate the Papua under a long-term charter contract for the PNG LNG project operated by ExxonMobil.
The project scope is for the transportation of LNG for China’s major energy company, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec). The vessel is co-owned by China Shipping (Group) Company and Sinopec.
In its midterm management plan STEER FOR 2020, MOL announced plans to increase its LNG carrier fleet from the current 66 vessels to 120 by 2020, including the 10 vessels serving the projects in China.