Shanghai: China's first domestically built LNG carrier was completed on April 3. The completion of the 147,210-cu.m ship, at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding came six months behind the contract delivery date.
The membrane-type LNG carrier is dually classed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and the China Classification Society (CCS). Owned by China LNG Shipping Holdings (CLNG), a joint venture of China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), COSCO and China Merchants Group (CMG), it is to be put in service to transport LNG imports from Western Australia to a gas terminal at Shenzhen. It is the first LNG carrier to be built at a Chinese yard, owned by a Chinese company and deployed in the country's first LNG import project.
Hudong-Zhonghua had taken more than three years to complete its first LNG carrier. It began assembling blocks in its dock in June 2005 and launched the ship in January 2006. Heat-proof work on tanks and other outfitting work had taken two years. The ship had been originally due for completion in October 2007. However, the entire outfitting work took about 27 months, delaying the ship's completion by a half year.
Hudong-Zhonghua is planning to cut the period of outfitting work on its future LNG carriers to 17 months. It has also developed a 160,000 cu m design, which it is marketing. [07/04/08]
Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group, the maker, will deliver another LNG carrier to China LNG Shipping Co. this year, and a third one in the first half of 2008 for the Guangdong LNG project.
Hu Weiping, Director of Bureau of Energy, NDRC, said, "In 2010, China will need 15 to 18 million tons of liquefied natural gas. In 2020, the country will be using up to 35 million tons. That means we will need thirty to forty LNG tankers for transportation." [07/04/08]
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