Petredec Holdings (Eastern) PTE Ltd (“Petredec”) has announced that they have signed a contract for the construction of up to six 93,000 cbm LPG carriers with dual fuel LPG propulsion at Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co. Ltd.

The initial firm three vessels will deliver in January, March and May 2023 and the optional vessels within Q2 and Q3 2023.

With a fleet of 21 VLGCs on the water, Petredec is already the 2nd largest Owner of VLGCs in the world.

This includes four scrubber fitted “R” Class 84,000 cbm’s that delivered from Jiangnan Shipyard earlier this year, giving their fleet an average age of 3.5 years, which is the lowest of their peers.

Jiangnan have designed this brand new ‘Panda Class 93k cbm’ with patented ‘Brilliance Technology’ to improve hull efficiency and lower consumption, in conjunction with Class DNV-GL.

Petredec’s close relationship with Jiangnan dates back to 2007, during which they have ordered a total of 19 LPG/ethylene vessels, including this latest order, making them Jiangnan’s number one builder of LPG and ethylene vessels.

The vessels will also be fitted with a shaft generator to utilise LPG to provide the auxiliary power at sea, further enhancing their green credentials.

Phillip Harwood, Petredec Fleet Director, added “Petredec has always been at the forefront of new technology and this order continues our tradition of investing in the most efficient and environmentally friendly solution. We are convinced that using LPG as bunker fuel in the MAN ES LGIP engine is the best contributor to achieving the targeted 40% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030”.

Giles Fearn, Petredec Group CEO commented “We are proud to have ordered the next generation of VLGC’s, which marks an important step for both us and the industry towards de-carbonisation by emitting 30% less CO2 than the previous generation 84,000 cbm ships burning LSFO. It clearly positions Petredec as the pre-eminent Owner of VLGC’s with dual fuel LPG and we are excited for what this next chapter in the company’s evolution will bring”.