Building 'mega refrigerated trucks' for maritime shipping

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers are typical high-tech, high-reliability, and high-value-added vessels. They carry cargo cooled to minus 163 degrees Celsius. For this reason, they are nicknamed "mega refrigerated trucks on the sea." At present, only a dozen shipyards in a few countries possess the capability to build large LNG carriers.

From launching R&D in 1997, to delivering China's first large LNG carrier in 2008, and then compressing the construction cycle of LNG carriers to 16 months, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation, has set the world's fastest construction record for LNG carriers. "From nothing to something, from follower to forerunner, this has been a 'Long March' across more than 20 years," said Chen Jianliang, chairman of Hudong-Zhonghua.

From isolated breakthroughs to comprehensive advancements

In 1997, Hudong-Zhonghua initiated the development of LNG carriers. In April 2008, China's first domestically built large LNG carrier, the Dapeng Sun, was completed and delivered. However, between 2008 and 2014, Hudong-Zhonghua delivered only six vessels. How to further integrate technological breakthroughs, achieve mass production, and turn global shipowners from "let's give it a try" to "buy with confidence"? Hudong-Zhonghua has carried out continuous technological iteration, establishing a complete set of technical standards and workflows for LNG carrier construction. It has made key breakthroughs in the R&D of cargo containment systems, significantly propelling the localization of LNG carrier development.

On May 29, 2026, Hudong-Zhonghua delivered the large LNG carrier "Puteri Johor," built for Petronas, with its cargo containment system fully equipped with domestically produced ultra-low-temperature valves across the entire spectrum. A large LNG carrier requires over 1,000 cryogenic valves, each of which must withstand extreme low temperatures, high-frequency opening and closing, and thermal shock over the vessel's 25-year service life, placing extremely high demands on material smelting, precision machining, heat treatment, and sealing technology. Therefore, this achievement is backed by a growing Chinese shipbuilding industry chain.

Today, driven by Hudong-Zhonghua, the number of supporting enterprises in China's LNG carrier industry chain has grown to more than 130, achieving a leap from isolated technological breakthroughs to coordinated advancement across the entire industrial chain.

Continuously enhancing global competitiveness

Qatar is the world's largest producer and exporter of LNG. In the Hundred-Ship Plan announced by QatarEnergy in 2019, Hudong-Zhonghua ultimately secured orders for 36 vessels, 24 of which are 271,000-cubic-meter LNG carriers—the world's largest LNG carrier type independently designed by Hudong-Zhonghua, with each vessel costing more than US$300 million. Whether measured by total contract value or cargo capacity, Hudong-Zhonghua ranks first among all shipyards participating in the construction globally.

Global market demand for LNG carriers continues to grow strongly. However, the challenges are equally significant. Shen Ning, marketing director of Hudong-Zhonghua, has a clear assessment: although Chinese shipbuilders are continuously expanding their LNG carrier construction capacity, South Korean shipyards, which have long maintained a leading position, still hold the largest share in the global market.

"The real competition is not only in shipbuilding capability, but also in industrial organization capability," noted Shen Ning. "What we offer now is a complete solution integrating financing, credit insurance, supply chain coordination, subsequent charters, oil and gas company resources, and even future operational support. Chinese shipyards are packaging all of these together. Our advantages are steadily growing."

maintaining its leadership in the bulk carrier and container ship segments. However, in the lucrative high-end market segments, Chinese shipbuilders still need to work harder. Where are LNG carriers headed in the future? Wan Zhong, deputy director of Hudong-Zhonghua's LNG Research Institute, pointed to three directions: larger, more energy-efficient, and more intelligent.

Beyond the mainstream 174,000-cubic-meter LNG carrier type, Hudong-Zhonghua has commenced batch construction of 271,000-cubic-meter LNG carriers. The larger the vessel, the lower the unit cargo transport cost. A larger single-vessel capacity also reduces carbon emission intensity. Moreover, Hudong-Zhonghua is researching and exploring the feasibility of unmanned oceangoing navigation. LNG carriers spend months at sea, and crew shortages are a persistent real-world challenge for the industry. Reducing reliance on manual labor is the core driver in this direction.

At present, nearly 30,000 workers from Hudong-Zhonghua are stationed year-round across two factory areas totaling more than 10,000 mu (approximately 667 hectares) on Changxing Island in Shanghai, continuously innovating in these three directions, striving to translate China's accumulated scale and technological strength in the LNG carrier industrial chain into tangible competitiveness in the global market.