Guo Jiatai

Since the beginning of 2022,Chinese shipbuilding enterprises have hung on to the opportunity of explosive growth in the global demand for large LNGCs, continued to strengthen independent innovation, and actively seized the international market.According to the data of CANSI,Chinese shipbuilding companies undertook 55 large LNGC orders in 2022, accounting for more than 30% of the total global orders, hitting a record high. Li Yanqing, secretary general of CANSI, said this achievement has completely broken the long-term large-scale monopoly of single country builders in the world on the LNGC shipbuilding market, and opened a new era of Top 2 competition in the global gas carrier domain.

LNGC is an internationally recognized product with high technology, high difficulty and high added value, and it and aircraft carrier and large cruise ship are jointly called“three pearls in the shipbuilding industry crown”. For a long time, South Korean shipbuilding companies have absolutely dominated the international LNGC market. In 2008, CSSC Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding built and delivered China's first large-scale LNGC “Dapeng Hao”, successfully breaking South Korea's monopoly in this sector.

As a pioneer and leader in China's LNGC industry, Hudong Zhonghua has been engaged in the development of LNGC since the 1990s. It started from zero and as a result of its unswerving effort, it has now become the world’s only LNGC shipyard that can build NO96 and MARKⅢ at the same time.

In the LNGC boom market last year, Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding bravely bore the responsibility as chief of the whole LNG industry chain,seized the opportunity, acted as a coseller along with China Shipbuilding Trading Co Ltd (CSTC) on January 7,2022, successfully signed a “cloud contract” for the construction of 6 world's latest generation “Changheng Series” 174,000 m3 large LNGCs,achieving a good start. On April 28 of the same year, At the signing ceremony of CNOOC's medium-and longterm FOB resource supporting LNGC Project (Phase II), again, as a joint seller, Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding signed a contract for the construction of six 174,000 m3 large LNGCs, valued at more than 8 billion yuan, breaking the record of the largest one-time contract value order of LNGCs.

It is worth mentioning that since the beginning of last year, the demand for LNGCs in the international market has risen sharply, and the new shipbuilding market has ushered in the upsurge of LNGC ordering, which provides market access opportunities for Chinese shipbuilding enterprises strong enough to receive orders, so that Hudong Zhonghua shipbuilding will no longer fight alone.

In March of 2022, CSSC Jiangnan Shipyard and Dalian Shipbuilding Industry respectively received the first large LNGC order, making a complete entry into the LNGC building market and undertook the subsequent batch orders. In October of 2022, Jiangsu Yangzijiang Shipbuilding won the first large LNGC order. On December 30 of the same year, China Merchants Industrial Group officially signed a contract with an European shipowner to build 4+2+2 180,000 m3 large LNGCs, thus, becoming the fifth shipyard in China's shipbuilding industry to obtain the construction order of large LNGCs.

As for the large-scale ordertaking situation of Chinese shipbuilding enterprises in the LNGC realm, Li Yanqing said the correct expansion decision, flexible market strategy and solid technology accumulation are the portrayal of the rapid entry and opening of the LNG transport market by Chinese shipbuilding enterprises.

Li indicated that no matter how the market changes in 2023, the faster delivery to promote new orders is the key to continue to win the market.In the current and future period, the shipbuilding industry must adhere to a Chinese development path,establish a more efficient way and route, unswervingly implement the new development concept, look around the national advantage resources,face the global industry division of labor, establish technology, industry,management and market advantages of LNGC and other gas carriers in China’s shipbuilding industry in an integrated fashion.