China’s only large-scale LNG shipyard intends to expand its capacity so it can more than double the number of LNG carriers it makes every year, a company representative said at a conference in Beijing.

Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding will be capable of constructing seven-to-eight 174 thousand cubic metre (Mcm) tankers every year by 2018 – up from two-to-three at present – said Song Wei, section chief of ship machinery research and development.

Hudong-Zhonghua was competitive against its South Korean rivals last year, when comparing major technical indicators such as capacity and propulsion, Song said at the China International LNG Conference last week.

The Shanghai-based shipyard has 14 LNG carriers on its order book, which is 10% of the global market share, said Song. Six 174 Mcm vessels worth $1.5 billion in total were ordered by a consortium of Sinopec, China Shipping Development and Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines to lift cargoes from Australia Pacific LNG in Queensland – which is 25%-owned by Sinopec.

Another two 172 Mcm tankers will transport LNG from ExxonMobil’s PNG LNG plant for Sinopec, while two 172 Mcm carriers will carry PetroChina’s offtake from Chevron’s Gorgon project. Lastly, four 174 Mcm vessels will ship LNG from BG Group’s Queensland Curtis LNG for China National Offshore Oil Corp.

Rising demand for LNG carriers is fuelling order growth, while Chinese design and technology needed to build such vessels is maturing, according to Song.

Hudong-Zhonghua is a subsidiary of state-owned China State Shipbuilding Corp. and began research and development into LNG carriers in 1998. It delivered its first carrier – the Dapeng Sun, with a capacity of 147 Mcm – in 2008. The company has delivered six carriers to date, all of which are shipping LNG to China’s first three receiving terminals.

Hudong-Zhonghua is developing 220 Mcm capacity carriers that are more suitable for voyages longer than 4,000 nautical miles (7,408 km), Song said. That would be farther than Beijing to Berlin.

The company is also developing FSRUs with capacity of up to 270 Mcm and FPSOs with capacity of 220 Mcm, while looking into the market for ship-to-ship LNG bunkering.