LNG

Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT), the French LNG storage technology company for ships and onshore, said it received two approvals from maritime classification societies for its new three-tank LNG tanker design.

The Approvals in Principle (AiP) came from Norwegian class society DNV and France’s Bureau Veritas.

DNV and BV have issued approvals in principle for the three-tank LNG carrier design for the Mark III and No. 96 technologies developed by GTT.

“This technological solution is aimed at increasing the profitability and overall performance of the vessel,” stated GTT.

GTT explained that the three-tank LNG carrier concept allowed a reduction in construction costs through the suppression of one cofferdam, one pump tower and all associated cryogenic equipment such as liquid and gas domes, valves and piping.

Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and Chief Executive of GTT, said that for almost 60 years, the GTT Group has been constantly improving its technologies to meet customer  requirements as well as those of the regulatory authorities.

Fewer tanks

“Thirty years ago, we upgraded LNG carriers from five to four tanks and we now hope to bring the market forward with a three-tank LNG carrier. We hope to see this concept become standard in future years,” declared Berterottière.

The Paris-based company said that the overall surface area of the containment system will also be reduced by about 2,000 cubic metres, generating lower costs for the materials and vessel construction.

GTT added that improved ratio between the volume of LNG transported and the surface area of the cryogenic liner would make it possible to reduce the daily boil-off rate.

As an example, GTT estimated that it would achieve a boil-off rate as low as 0.080 percent of tank volume per day with the Mark III Flex technology compared to 0.085 percent of the volume per day with the LNG carriers currently in operation.

The company said that this new design could also offer time-savings for shipyards and could help optimise their construction schedules.

Jean-Baptiste Boutillier, Vice President of Development, Innovation and Technical Strategy at GTT, said the company was honoured by the granting of these two approvals in principle for the three-tank LNG carrier.

“We are convinced that this evolution will benefit all stakeholders by improving the performance of the LNG carrier while reducing its carbon footprint,” added Boutillier.

July 22 (LNGJ) - Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, South Korea’s third-largest shipbuilder and a leading construction yard for LNG carriers, is on the verge of ending a dispute with contracted workers that has disrupted work at the Goeje facility in South Gyeongsang province and cost the company more than $400 million as of July 21.

   DSME said the construction of eight vessels at five docks at the shipyard has been hampered with delivery dates pushed back by two to five weeks. The union representing the striking workers, the Korea Metal Workers’ Union, has now informed the company they were willing to end their strike and accept a previously offered wage increase if lawsuits seeking damages from the strikers were dropped.

South Korea’s shipbuilding industry, the largest global constructor of LNG carriers, has just over a 50-50 chance of seeing the conclusion of a proposed merger between two of the nation’s three largest shipbuilders, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

MAN Diesel & Turbo, the European maritime equipment and engine maker, said it was selected to provide a complete power package and fuel-gas system for the world’s first fishing vessel with LNG propulsion.

South Korean President Moon Jae-In has given a speech at the Geoje shipyard complex of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, pledging to keep the nation’s strategic LNG shipbuilding sector at the cutting-edge of technology and backed by more use of LNG fuel.