CHINA's Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (H&Z) is pursuing the development of a 18,000-cubic metre large LNG bunkering vessel, after signing a classification contract with Bureau Veritas (BV). The company has also lined up a future project to build a 25,000-TEU liquefied natural gas-fuelled containership. H&Z, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC) that specialises in the construction of large LNG carriers and box ships, said at Marintec China 2019 in Shanghai that the 18,000 cum LNG bunkering vessel will serve the port of Marseilles, France. "The large LNG bunkering vessel will be able to bunker a range of vessels from ferries to containerships to VLCCs [very large crude carriers]," a H&Z spokesman was quoted as saying in a report by Colchester's Sea Trade Maritime News. H&Z, considered the only shipyard in China with large LNG carrier construction track records, also signed an Approval in Principle (AIP) certification with DNV GL for a 25,000-TEU LNG-fuelled ultra large container vessel (ULCV). "With this AIP, the 23,000-TEU containership in the market today is unlikely to be the biggest," the H&Z spokesman said. "We believe Chinese shipbuilding has reached a new milestone in the construction of ultra large ships." Last month, H&Z won a newbuilding contract from Taiwan's Evergreen to build one 23,000-TEU containership.