The Japanese shipping company K Line has added two new tankers to its LNG fleet. They are bound to operate for QatarEnergy.
The naming ceremonies for the two newbuildings took place at the HD Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea. The tankers were christened “Sharq” and “Shra’ouh”, named after places in the Emirate of Qatar. The godmothers were the wives of Yukikazu Myochin, Director and Chairman of K Line, and Takaya Soga, President and CEO of NYK. Together with China LNG Shipping and MISC Berhad, both companies are shareholders in the joint venture that commissioned the ships. The “Sharq” is due to be delivered in December, with its sister ship reportedly following in January. They are the seventh and eighth ships in a series of twelve LNG tankers being built for Qatar Energy.
The tankers are each 299 m long, 46.4 m wide and have a tank capacity of 174,000 m³ each. The propulsion system is a dual-fuel system (X-DF 2.1 iCER) which, according to K Line, is designed to consume less fuel and therefore reduce emissions. The tanker’s maximum speed is stated as 19.5 knots.
For K Line, one of Japan’s largest shipping companies and part of the container giant ONE, the LNG business is one of the most important investment priorities for the future, according to its own statement. The company is therefore planning to further expand long-term contracts. The charter agreement with Qatar Energy has been in place since 2022 and initially comprised seven LNG tankers, but was expanded to a total of 12 just a few months later.
