Steel Cutting of the first JPM ASTRANFE project in Korea; Samsung Hull No 2596 QG-JPM

SMC is pleased to announce Steel Cutting of 174K LNGC, Hull No. HN2596 at Samsung Heavy Industries, South Korea. This is the first vessel in a series of fourteen vessels ordered by JPM Asset management, London.

The vessel will be classed by ABS and built to Liberia flag requirements, scheduled to be delivered on 31st October 2024.

The steel-cutting ceremony in South Korea follows QatarEnergy’s 2020 decision to enter into ship slot reservation agreements with three South Korean shipyards:

Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (now renamed as Hanhwa Ocean).

The ceremony was held in the presence of Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa al-Thani, CEO of Qatargas, attending on behalf of HE Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and CEO of QatarEnergy;

Jin-Taek Jung, CEO of Samsung Heavy Industries; and Andy Dacy, CEO of JP Morgan’s Global Transport Group.

With executing this massive LNG fleet expansion project, QG North Field expansion project which will see the increase of LNG production from the North Field by 48 million tons per annum (mtpa), bringing Qatar’s export capacity to 126 mtpa by 2028.