(Yicai Global) July 18 -- Jiangsu Yoke Technology will provide thermal insulation panels to Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group), a well-known Chinese shipbuilder, for use in Mark III liquefied natural gas tanker ships. The two will also cooperate to construct and develop materials for other LNG cargo craft.

The firm's wholly-owned unit S&Y International has signed a contract worth CNY104 million (USD15.5 million) with Shanghai-based Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) -- China's first LNG tanker maker -- to sell it reinforced polyurethane insulation panels for the gas-carrying ships, the chemical producer, based in Jiangsu Province in eastern China, said in a regulatory filing yesterday.

The pair also inked a separate agreement to collaboratively produce liquid cargo containment systems for Mark III vessels and other LNG cargo craft.

The cooperation between the two will reforge a weak link in the domestic LNG industry chain and quickly enhance the international competitiveness of domestic players in the film-type LNG storage and transport market, per the filing.

The "Mark III membrane system is a cryogenic liner directly supported by the ship's inner hull," France-based LNG transport engineering firm Gaztransport & Technigaz explained on its website.

Editor: Ben Armour