Hong Kong-based transport firm Wah Kwong is finalizing a deal later this month to double the variety of liquefied pure gasoline (LNG) carriers that it has ordered to 4, because it eyes rising international commerce within the superchilled gas, its chairman mentioned.
The ships can be delivered from 2027 onwards, Wah Kwong’s Executive Chairman Hing Chao advised Reuters on the sidelines of the Singapore Maritime Week ShipZERO28 occasion late final week.
“We have always been very optimistic about the outlook of LNG as a global energy,” mentioned Chao, including that a whole lot of provide must come from the U.S. or the Middle East following Russian provide disruptions, creating demand for extra LNG carriers.
The ships ordered by Wah Kwong can burn typical gas oil in addition to LNG which is able to decrease their oil consumption and greenhouse gasoline emissions.
“That will prepare the company for the energy transition, putting us in a position to handle fuels like ammonia and even hydrogen in the future because a lot of the gas characteristics are similar,” Chao mentioned.
The shipper has additionally began adopting marine biofuel blends for bunker trials. It has not positioned orders for methanol-fueled ships because the low-carbon methanol provide is proscribed, mentioned Chao.
However, he added that China has the potential to grow to be a key producer of inexperienced fuels and this might in future draw some bunkering volumes away from the world’s largest bunker hub Singapore.
China performed its first ship-to-ship inexperienced methanol bunkering operation on a Maersk ship at Yangshan port on April 10. The bunkering vessel used within the operation was owned by Shanghai International Port Group and managed by Wah Kwong.
The firm can be taking a look at a variety of technical measures, together with shaft turbines, extra energy-efficient turbines, paint and carbon seize onboard ships, mentioned Chao.
Wah Kwong has seven oil tankers and 28 bulk carriers, that are totally owned or chartered below long-term contracts.
(Reuters – Reporting by Jeslyn Lerh; Editing by Florence Tan and Eileen Soreng)
