July 23 (LNGJ) - Stolt-Nielsen, the Norwegian shipping and services company, has launched the first of two 7,500 cubic metres capacity liquefied natural gas carriers ordered from the Keppel Nantong Shipyard in China.
The ship was designed for Stolt-Nielsen by Marine Engineering Services (MES) of Italy. The Italian firm said in a statement that the China-built vessel was launched during the night of the 20th of July. This following a ceremony in the present of construction stakeholders such as MES, the Keppel Nantong, Stolt-Nielsen and European maritime classification society DNV-GL.
The ship is expected to start serving small-scale LNG projects, including one on the Italian island of Sardinia, being developed by Stolt-Nielsen through the subsidiary Avenir LNG, a joint venture established with larger Norwegian shipping peers, Golar LNG and Hoegh LNG.
