Chinese firms and LR to jointly develop first 220,000 cu m LNG carrier

Six Chinese firms and Lloyd’s Register (LR) have signed an agreement to design and develop the first 220,000 cu m LNG carrier with a GTT Mark III membrane containment system.

The Chinese companies include Cosco Shipping LNG Investment (Shanghai) Co, Cosco Shipping Heavy Industry, Jiangnan Shipyard, Marine Design and Research Institute of China (Maric), Shanghai Ship and Shipping Research Institute (SSSRI), and China Classification Society (CCS).

The seven parties will define the ship’s technical specifications and general arrangement of the main systems, to factor in route and capacity requirements.

Zhu Jianzhang, assistant president at Maric, said: “As global demand for LNG trade continues to grow, the shipping industry will require more LNG carriers, specifically for newbuilding orders. As China's demand for LNG continues to increase, more Chinese shipowners with need LNG carriers and this joint industry project will provide our customers with a suitable and competitive design to support their business requirements.”

Once the LNG carrier has been designed, LR and CCS will look to grant the design approval-in-principle. The parties will conduct hydrodynamic assessments on the design to optimise its performance and plan to continually improve the design.

Zhu Cangman, vice-director, safety committee, Cosco Shipping LNG Investment (Shanghai) Co, said: “All of the partners involved in this project hope to achieve complementary advantages through close cooperation, which will further enhance the competitiveness in the large LNG carrier market within China and local areas.”

Cosco Shipping LNG Investment has worked with LR for a total of ten 174,000 cu m LNG carriers to-date, and Jiangnan Shipyard is currently constructing ten VLGCs and two Mark III LNG carriers for the Cosco company.

Jiangnan Shipyard has cooperated with LR and Maric on an approval-in-principle for standard size membrane type LNG carrier, and a joint development project for applying LNG fuel tank on larger containership.