Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) today announced that China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited will take an equity stake in the MOL wholly owned subsidiary that will own four LNG carriers serving the Russia Yamal LNG project. The ownership will be split 50%-50% between MOL and China COSCO Shipping. MOL has already signed long-term charter contracts for the four LNG carriers through its wholly owned company.

MOL and China COSCO Shipping Jointly Own 4 LNG Carriers for Russia Yamal LNG Project
Caption: Special ARC 7 ice class carriers (by Russian classification standards) have been custom-designed and are being built for the Yamal LNG Project to support year-round navigation without any icebreaker assistance along westbound navigation routes, and during summer navigation season - eastbound via the Northern Sea Route - Image courtesy of Yamal LNG

This is the fourth joint LNG project involving MOL and China COSCO Shipping, following one for ExxonMobil (a total of four vessels were delivered from 2015 through 2016), another for SINOPEC (six vessels are to be delivered from 2016 through 2018), and the ice-class LNG carriers for the Yamal LNG project (three vessels will be delivered from 2018 through 2019). The total number of vessels co-owned by MOL and China COSCO Shipping will be increased to 17 in 2020 when all vessels including those in latest project are in service.

LNG's popularity as a clean, environment-friendly fuel, continues to rise in step with increasing awareness of the need to protect the global environment, and demand for LNG transport is poised to grow sharply. MOL continues to take a proactive stance in effectively meeting global customer needs and providing high-quality LNG transport services, leveraging the experience and know-how accumulated as one of world's largest owners and managers of LNG carriers.

Source: MOL