The British chemical and energy group Ineos wants to start shipping liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the German market and is therefore having two new LNG ships built in South Korea, the company says in a press release.

”The long-term agreement marks Ineos’ entry into the global liquefied natural gas market,” the statement reads.

Ineos is already the largest supplier of ethylene gas from the US to Europe and Asia and therefore already has a fleet of 12 ethylene gas carriers. Ethylene is typically used in the plastics industry.

Now the British energy major has agreed with Japanese Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL) that the Japanese shipping company will have two LNG carriers built with a capacity of 174,000 m3 each. The vessels will then be chartered to Ineos.

Ineos has previously signed an agreement with power company Sempra to purchase 1.4 million tonnes of LNG annually and ship it from Port Arthur in the United States and deliver it to LNG receiving facilities in Brunsbüttel, located at the entrance to the Elbe River in Germany.