QatarEnergy has signed charter deals for four LNG carriers with MOL, completing an initial set of charter contracts awarded under its major shipbuilding program.

Concurrent with the signing of the TCPs, back-to-back shipbuilding contracts were signed between MOL and CSSC’s Hudong-Zhonghua for the construction of the new LNG carriers, QatarEnergy said in a statement.

These vessels will serve QatarEnergy’s LNG growth projects and future fleet requirements.

QatarEnergy announced a long-term charter agreement with Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL) for four newbuild LNG carriers as it begins moving forward with its planned construction program that could see as many as 100 LNG carriers built. Two years ago, the state-owned energy company announced that it had reserved shipbuilding slots in China and South Korea to support its efforts to nearly double annual LNG production and exports by 2027. In October 2021, QatarEnergy announced the four vessels now in the MOL charter agreement would be built in China.