Korean shipyard begins piecing together 17 LNG ships for QatarEnergy’s fleet expansion quest

Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat), the Persian Gulf country’s shipping and maritime player, has revealed a steel-cutting ceremony for 17 new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, which was hosted at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) shipyard in South Korea.

Nakilat, which will own and operate up to 25 conventional-size LNG carriers that will be chartered to QatarEnergy affiliates under long-term agreements, thanks to a deal with the Qatari player announced in February 2024 and signed a month later, has confirmed the steel cutting of 17 new LNG carriers at Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries shipyard.

Following the first round of long-term time charter party (TCP) agreements signed in April and August 2022, the second phase of the Qatari heavyweight’s LNG fleet expansion program was set in motion with a $3.9 billion construction contract with Hyundai Heavy Industries in September 2023 for 17 of the 25 LNG vessels.

The remaining eight ships are being built at the Hanwha Ocean, formerly Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, shipyard in the same country. A steel-cutting ceremony for these eight LNG carriers was held in March 2025. QatarEnergy’s historic LNG fleet expansion program encapsulates 128 vessels, including 24 QC-Max size LNG vessels.

Nakilat got the charter and operation duties for nine of those ultra-modern QC-Max LNG ships, which are part of the Qatari energy player’s efforts to sustain and bolster its spot on the global LNG scene. With the same aim, QatarEnergy also put another expansion project on the North field’s menu, enlarging the North Field East (NFE) and the North Field South (NFS) undertakings with the North Field West (NFW) project.

As a result, the country’s LNG production capacity is expected to grow by almost 85% from current production levels by 2030. The latest steel-cutting ceremony at HHI comes shortly after China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) began building another LNG carrier for QatarEnergy’s fleet at Samsung Heavy Industries’ shipyard in South Korea.