Petronas expands fleet with delivery of newbuilt LNG carrier

September 24, 2026, by Melisa Cavcic

Petronas LNG Ltd. (PLL), a subsidiary of Malaysia’s energy giant Petronas, has added a new vessel to its liquefied natural gas (LNG) fleet with the delivery of the newly built LNG carrier (LNGC), which was built at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and is designed to bolster reliable global LNG deliveries amid growing worldwide demand.

Puteri Kelantan LNG carrier; Source: K Line

Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), a Japanese major maritime transportation and shipping company, has disclosed that the Puteri Kelantan LNG carrier, which was built for Petronas LNG, was delivered on September 24, 2026, at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding in China.

This vessel is owned by a joint venture company led by the Japanese shipping player. The vessel, for which a naming ceremony was held on September 2, 2026, is of the same type as the two other vessels delivered for PLL in May and June 2026.

The ceremony was attended by representatives from K Line, PLL, the Chinese shipyard, Bank of Communications Financial Leasing, the financier of the vessel, China Merchants Energy Shipping, and China Merchants Financial Leasing, which participates in the joint vessel project.

Naming ceremony for Puteri Kelantan LNG carrier; Source: K Line

The sister vessel, Puteri Negeri Sembilan, was named at the same time and is scheduled to be delivered in November 2026. K Line explains that “puteri” means princess in Malay, and “Kelantan” and “Negeri Sembilan” are states in Peninsular Malaysia. The delivery of these two new vessels is set to strengthen Petronas LNG’s fleet and support the reliable delivery of LNG to PLL’s customers.

This comes months after a joint venture, sponsored by K Line, Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha, China LNG Shipping, and MISC through its wholly owned subsidiary, Portovenere and Lerici (Labuan), held a naming ceremony for a 174,000 cubic meter (cbm) LNG vessel for QatarEnergy at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries’ facility on July 14, 2026.