Although South Korea has not come up with a few decent surface ships in the process of manufacturing warships, in the field of civilian ships, South Korea is an out-and-out shipbuilding power on a global scale. In the past, South Korea has had a monopoly on the construction of the vast majority of LNG carriers worldwide. At the beginning of April this year, South Korean shipbuilder Hanwha Marine has announced that it has won four orders for 174,000 cubic meters of large LNG carriers, and from the data, South Korea's three major shipping companies have undertaken orders for 33 large LNG carriers since this year, and the total amount has reached 7.8 billion US dollars. South Korea's ability to manufacture a large number of LNG carriers is actually enviable, but according to information released by Qatar, Qatar has announced that it will order 18 new LNG carriers from China, which are larger than the LNG natural carriers that South Korea can build.
The difficulty of producing an LNG carrier is very high, and it is not inferior to the production and manufacture of an aircraft carrier. It is understood that Qatar has announced that it has signed an order with China Shipbuilding Group for 18 liquefied natural gas carriers, which is different from the previous orders obtained by South Korea, which are 271,000 cubic meters of natural gas carriers, which are much larger than the ships that South Korea can produce and manufacture. At the beginning of April this year, South Korea was also happy to win a large order for liquefied natural gas carriers, but Qatar has now given China enough opportunities, and the order for 18 LNG ships has also put South Korea on the sidelines.
The only countries in the world that can complete the production and manufacturing of LNG carriers are the United States, Japan, South Korea, France and China. In addition to the production capacity of large-tonnage ships in the production and manufacturing process of LNG carriers, it is also necessary to make the cargo hold able to withstand the test of minus 163 °C, so it is very difficult to complete the production and manufacturing of LNG carriers, and in the past, luxury cruise ships, aircraft carriers and LNG ships were called the crown jewels of the shipbuilding industry, and China has all the production and manufacturing capacity. On April 30, there was good news in Shanghai that the Fujian aircraft carrier had left the dock and sea trials were imminent.
As an energy power in the Middle East, Qatar has also been seeking the purchase of large LNG ships in recent years. Since 2020, Qatar has been preparing to complete the purchase of 100 transport ships, and during this period, Qatar has signed a number of orders with China and South Korea. Although South Korea has received orders for as many as 54 LNG carriers before, China has now obtained orders for 271,000 cubic meters of LNG carriers, which has obviously opened a gap with South Korea, and China can continue to squeeze South Korea's living space in the field of LNG carriers in the future.
In recent years, China's large civilian ships and advanced military surface ships are being delivered like dumplings, which shows that China's shipbuilding industry is very strong, and the war research believes that it will not take too long to complete the production and manufacturing of these 18 LNG ships. The speed of manufacturing in China can also teach South Korea and the world a lesson. Text/Iris