Japanese transport company Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has taken delivery of the first vessel in a series of four LNG carriers from Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding.
The carriers will be deployed to provide LNG transportation for the PNG LNG project in Papua New Guinea and the Gorgon Jansz LNG project in Australia.
The vessel was named Papua at a ceremony at Hudong shipyard on 8 January.
Papua will be operated by MOL under a long-term charter contract for the PNG LNG project, operated by ExxonMobil.
This 290m-long and 46.95m-wide vessel will have a cargo tank capacity of 171,800m³ and will be capable of cruising at 19.5k.
Papua is co-owned by Chinese ship-owner China Shipping (Group) Company and energy company China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (SINOPEC), for whom the vessel will be transporting LNG.
In January 2011, MOL created a shipbuilding supervision team consisting of multinational staff, mostly Chinese and Japanese, to enable the safe and high-quality construction of these LNG carriers, the company stated.
MOL’s relationship with its Chinese partners in this project has resulted in an initiative to build a further six LNG carriers for Sinopec.
Construction of all ten vessels is expected to be completed by 2017.
Image: Papua will provide LNG transportation for the PNG LNG project in Papua New Guinea. Photo: courtesy of Mitsui OSK Lines.
