A steel-cutting ceremony has been held for the first of a new generation of chartered liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels to be constructed for QatarEnergy at South Korean shipyards.

Attending the event on Geoje Island in Gyeongsang province, South Korea, were Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani, chief executive officer of Qatargas; Jin-Taek Jung, CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries; and Andy Dacy, CEO of J.P. Morgan's Global Transport Group.

The project is part of QatarEnergy’s LNG fleet expansion programme.

In 2020, QatarEnergy entered into ship slot reservation agreements with three Korean shipyards: Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering. The state-owned petroleum company in 2022 signed multiple time-charter parties with various shipowners, including affiliates of J.P. Morgan Asset Management, a fund investing in a wide array of transportation assets.

The LNG carriers will transport output from two LNG expansion projects in Qatar. Most of the newbuilds are booked for shipyards in South Korea as well as some in China. Last October, a steel-cutting ceremony was held at the Hudong-Zhonghua yard in China.