China Shipping and MOL Near Deal on Eight LNG Ships

In what promises to be one of the biggest ship financing deals of the year, China Shipping Group and Japan's Mitsui OSK Lines are close to signing an agreement for six liquefied natural gas ships with an option for two more.

The ships will be used to service Australia Pacific LNG, a joint project between Origin Energy, ConocoPhillips and Sinopec.

Six of the ships will be sourced from Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard, currently China's only yard building LNG vessels.