China’s Jiangnan Shipyard, in collaboration with CSSC Trading, has secured a contract to build two 90,000 m3 very large ammonia carriers (VLACs).

The shipbuilding contract was officially signed with Southwest Maritime Limited on Monday, Jiangnan Shipyard said in a LinkedIn post on Monday.

Jiangnan Shipyard added that the vessel’s dual-fuel LPG propulsion system can reduce CO2 emissions by about 20% compared to conventional-powered propulsion systems.

LPG remains a niche alternative bunker fuel for now, being used almost exclusively in gas carriers.

The global LPG-fuelled fleet is currently made up of 141 ships, with 91 more expected to be delivered by 2028, according to classification society DNV data. Of the current fleet, 138 ships are LPG carriers.

“This milestone marks a deepening of the strategic partnership built over more than a decade and represents a meaningful step in support of the global dual carbon goals and the decarbonisation of the maritime industry,” it said in the post.