ABS and DSME to develop first LNG powered drillshipABS and DSME to develop first LNG powered drillship

With the US already moving towards LNG fuelled offshore support vessels to reduce emissions the LNG fuelled drillship will be targeted at the Gulf of Mexico market with shale gas seen as providing the fuel.

The JDP will seek to combine the skills and experience of ABS and DSME to address is issues in the storage and management of LNG safely."We are pleased to collaborate on this first-of-its-kind offshore structure leveraging our cutting-edge technologies and coupling these with ABS' experience validating new floating concepts," said DSME cto and executive vice president Sung Geun Lee.

In the first stage of the project the Korean yard has performed a concept design comparison between two LNG storage systems and an analysis of the fuel supply system. ABS will conduct a concept design review, a basic engineering design review and a risk assessment.

"Many North American vessel owners and operators are making the switch to LNG to achieve substantial operating savings by reducing fuel consumption and lowering emissions to meet the strict sulphur requirements in the North American Emissions Control Area," said ABS executive vice president of energy development Ken Richardson.

"ABS already has taken the critical first step to develop guidance that addresses the first application of LNG technology on US-flagged support vessels for Gulf of Mexico operations. An LNG fueled drillship is another groundbreaking concept that illustrates how deepwater applications are evolving."

It is the latest development in the move towards LNG-powered vessels, which is growing across the globe. Earlier this week Nippon Yusen Kaisha ordered the first LNG bunker tanker at Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction, which it plans to deploy in the port of Zeebrugge, Belgium.