It was good old-fashioned European noblesse oblige, in the person of French shipowner Jacques de Chateauvieux, that solved the problem of China’s demand for cheap US gas exports. That is how Wang Mingxiang sees it.

His Orient Energy (Donghua) is the charterer behind five very large ethane carriers (VLEC) newbuildings that de Chateauvieux has ordered on a bold new design.

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