LNG

The American Bureau of Shipping, the US maritime classification society, has inaugurated an ABS Global LNG Academy in the Qatari capital Doha and dedicated to training and educating mariners in modern LNG vessel operations.

The first major tropical storm and cyclone warning was issued by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Hurricane Center in Miami as a storm developed strength in the Eastern Caribbean, though was unlikely to travel far beyond that region in what is an early start to the hurricane season.

European natural gas market prices remained at a substantial premium to North Asia spot LNG values, which were now even lower than the UK National Balancing Point price for November as LNG demand was very high in Europe for early winter, while Asian countries appeared comfortable with their current flows and storage as coal remained an easy option there in colder weather.

The United States Government forecasts that liquefied natural gas exports would hit an all-time high through the normally quieter Northern Hemisphere summer from May to August and even amid higher benchmark Henry Hub prices.

The American Bureau of Shipping, the US maritime classification society, has approved a specialized near-shore LNG Floating Production Storage Offloading Vessel (FPSO) hull developed by the South Korean company Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

The ABS said it issued and Approval in Principle for the wide-breadth, single row near-shore LNG FPSO with a jetty-moored system.

The approval is the completion of a joint development project between DSME and ABS, combining the latest industry trends of shipbuilding practices and ABS rules to advance LNG safety standards.
 
The 64-metres wide, barge-shaped hull features a No. 96 single row containment system from French technology firm Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT) with storage capacity of 209,000 cubic metres.

It accommodates a jetty-moored system and approximately 40,000-metric tonnes of topside modules, which may produce between 3.0 million tonnes per annum and 3.5 MTPA of LNG.
 
“Due to wider breadth and different hull configuration compared to existing standard LNG carriers, various sloshing model tests have been carried out with the 6-DOF sloshing rig, driven by electric servomotors, at DSME’s sloshing research center in Korea,” explained ABS.

“Through these extensive tests, DSME have verified that the new hull design and the membrane cargo containment system (CCS) can withstand the sloshing impact loads under actual operating conditions,” added the US class society.
 
Matt Tremblay, ABS Senior Vice President for Global Offshore, noted that the US firm has been a part of the FPSO industry since its earliest days and has played a key role in the development of the sector.

“The benefit from that involvement is that we’ve been able to both witness and participate in the evolution of FPSOs in size, complexity and technology,” added Tremblay.

“This project is the next step in that evolution, and we are proud to be able to support it,” he stated.
 
Odin Kwon, an Executive Vice President of DSME and Chief Technology Officer, was delighted with the approval.

“As today’s offshore oil and gas market demands more cost efficient and fast-track projects, this single row CCS tank configuration will become a desirable model for our clients and this new line-up together with the two-row CCS configuration will provide greater flexibility to fulfil various needs,” he said.

ABS noted that it has been working with floating gas concepts for many years, including the first purpose-built liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) floating storage and offloading unit, delivered in 1997, and the first LPG FPSO in 2005.

Mitsui Osk Lines, the Japanese shipping company with an operating fleet of almost 100 LNG carriers, posted a first-half profit and higher revenues from its energy transportation business as its other shipping divisions struggled.