QatarEnergy celebrated the steel cutting of the first of its new generation of chartered Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) vessels to be constructed in a Korean shipyard.
Building upon an already successful global maritime initiative, QatarEnergy joined Samsung Heavy Industries, and JP Morgan Asset Management in a special ceremony on Geoje Island in the Republic of Korea to celebrate this milestone, which is part of QatarEnergy’s historic LNG Fleet Expansion Project.
This event signifies an extension of QatarEnergy's international collaborations and commitment to global partnerships and follows the October 2022 successful initiation of steel cutting at Hudong-Zhonghua, a Chinese shipyard renowned for its excellence in LNG shipbuilding.
The ceremony was held in the presence of Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani, the CEO of Qatargas, attending on behalf of His Excellency Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, Mr. Jin-Taek Jung, the CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries, and Mr. Andy Dacy, the CEO of JP Morgan's Global Transport Group. Also in attendance were senior executives from QatarEnergy and Qatargas.
The steel cutting ceremony in South Korea follows QatarEnergy's 2020 decision to enter into Ship Slot Reservation Agreements with three Korean shipyards: Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering. Subsequently, in 2022, QatarEnergy signed multiple Time Charter Parties with various shipowners, including affiliates of JP Morgan Asset Management, a fund investing in a wide array of transportation assets.