Wah Kwong is expanding into the Middle Eastern market, with subsidiary Venture Marine Services (VMS) joining AW Shipping’s gas newbuild project in China.

The Hong Kong shipping giant said WMS will be overseeing the newbuilding supervision projects for seven 99,000 cu m very large ethane carriers (VLECs) and four 93,000 cu m very large ammonia carriers (VLACs) under construction at Jiangnan Shipyard.

AW Shipping was formed in 2020 as a joint venture of ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S) and China’s Wanhua Chemical Group to support a long-term LPG supply contract from ADNOC and other suppliers to Wanhua’s manufacturing bases in China and worldwide.

“The launch of this project demonstrates VMS’s technical capabilities in supervising the more sophisticated gas carriers, in addition to LNG ships,” Wah Kwong said in a social media post on LinkedIn.

The 230-m-long VLECs powered by ethane dual-fuel engines will be delivered between 2025 and 2027, while the similarly sized VLACs should start entering the market in 2026.

Construction of the first VLAC kicked off in March and is currently in the block fabrication phase, scheduled for delivery in the third quarter.