Adnoc L&S expands its gas carrier fleet with new VLGCs: State-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company’s (Adnoc) shipping and maritime logistics arm, Adnoc L&S, has added five new-build Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGC) to its fleet, the company said in a press release last week. The carriers will be owned and operated by AW Shipping, an Adnoc L&S JV with Wanhua Chemical Group.

What will the carriers be used for? The carriers will be used to transport liquified petroleum gas (LPG) sourced from Adnoc and other global suppliers to Wanhua’s manufacturing bases in China and across the world. The AW shipping JV was formed in 2020 to support a 10-year LPG supply contract signed between the two companies in 2018, the statement said.

The details: The five carriers — Al Ain, Zakher, Rabdan, Al Salam, and Baynounah — were built at Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. Each has a capacity of 86k cubic meters, and are equipped with dual-fuel engine technology, using LPG as their primary fuel source, the statement said. This makes them among the lowest-emission vessels of this type, it added.

What they said: “The addition of these new-build, lower-emission vessels to Adnoc L&S’ growing fleet of over 800 owned, operated and chartered vessels, represents another important milestone as we bolster our capacity to capitalize on growing global energy demand,” Adnoc L&S CEO Abdulkareem Al Masabi said. “Natural gas is playing an increasingly important role in the global energy landscape and Adnoc L&S is expanding its gas fleet to serve customer demand, while reducing the carbon intensity of our vessels.”

More VLGCs to come: Jiangnan Shipyard is building LNG carriers for Adnoc L&S, scheduled to be delivered in 2025 and 2026, according to the statement.

Asyad Line acquires new vessel + doubles frequency of India-GCC service:Oman-based Asyad Line (ASL), part of logistics firm Asyad Group, is also adding a brand new 2.8k-TEU vessel to its commercial fleet, and is increasing the frequency of one of its flagship lines linking India with the GCC, it said in a press release. The new vessel ASL acquired has a capacity of 2.8k TEU, the statement said, without disclosing further details. ASL has also doubled the frequency of its India Express Service service — connecting major GCC and Indian ports — to four sailings per month, up from two per month, as a response to increasing global and regional demand, according to the statement.

About IEX: The IEX Service provides a direct route connecting Oman’s ports to India’s, going through Sohar Port, Dubai’s Jebel Ali, Qatar’s Hamad Port, and Saudi Arabia’s King Abdul Aziz Port in Dammam, as well as Mundra, Nhava Sheva and Hazira ports in India.

Tags: