MOL announced that on 19 August, a naming ceremony for a LNG carrier, jointly ordered by MOL and China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited (China COSCO Shipping), was held at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd. (Hudong)

The vessel was named “LNG PHECDA” after a star in the constellation Ursa Major. LNG PHECDA is the third of four newbuilding conventional LNG Carriers for the Yamal LNG Project announced at the end of June, 2017 ^*1, and the sister vessel of the “LNG DUBHE” and ” LNG MERAK ”  ^*2 which were delivered in November, 2019 and January, 2020 respectively at the same shipyard.

MOL has been operating 13 LNG carriers built in China for other projects, and LNG PHECDA will become the 14^th LNG carrier built in China to join our fleet. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic occurring during the construction of LNG PHECDA, she is expected to be delivered from the shipyard in a timely manner as originally planned, thanks largely to the help and cooperation of Hudong and the safety measures which have been taken to mitigate the dangers of the pandemic.

By leveraging our close working relationship with Hudong, MOL continues the construction of the 4^th LNG carrier, the last one in the series, will be completed on schedule. With these carriers, MOL will continue to work assiduously to provide safe and stable LNG transportation from the Yamal LNG plant.

LNG PHECDA Specifications:

(1)   Length:   295.0 m

(2)   Breadth:  45.00 m

(3)   Draft:     11.50 m

(4)   LNG tank: Membrane type

(5)   Cargo tank capacity: 174,000 m³

(6)   Shipyard: Hudong

(7)   Ship management company: MOL LNG Transport (Europe) Ltd.

(8)   Ownership: MOL 50%/China COSCO Shipping 50%