LNG

The American Bureau of Shipping, the US maritime classification society, has awarded approval for the design of a one-side spread mooring system for a floating liquefied natural gas facility to South Korean shipyard and offshore equipment-maker Samsung Heavy Industries.

The Approval in Principle (AIP) for SHI will see the FLNG system being safely spread-moored on one side, enabling LNG carriers to berth and load on the opposite side free from obstructions.

“With more than 150 floating oil and gas facilities in the ABS-classed fleet, ABS is the market leader in classification of offshore production units, which includes FLNG assets,” said the Houston, Texas-based company.

Matt Tremblay, ABS Vice President for Global Offshore, explained that the US class society was well placed to understand the unique requirements of these units, with a focus on safety.

“I’m proud to be able to support SHI with this innovation,” stated Tremblay.

Wang K. Lee, Vice President of SHI’s Offshore Business Division, said the one-side spread mooring system is a patented technology that can replace complex turrets in a mild offshore environment.

“It will be the optimized solution for shipping companies looking for economical FLNG models,” he added.
ABS has expertise on the whole of the LNG engineering, shipping and bunkering sector.

One of its 2021 approvals was for a new design by Finnish company Deltamarin and French LNG storage tank firm GTT for an LNG-powered Aframax oil tanker.

The vessel was developed by Deltamarin, a designer of ships and offshore platforms for the energy industry, to increase autonomy and carbon-emission reductions for the Aframax-type vessel, which is a crude oil tanker with a deadweight between 80,000 and 120,000 metric tonnes.

That design is intended to meet current and future environmental targets by introducing GTT membrane-type LNG tanks with LNG fuel stored at atmospheric pressure and designed to ABS Class.

The AiP from ABS certifies that the onboard integration of the membrane fuel tank solution is technically feasible for an LNG-fuelled tanker and that it complies with all safety regulations.

Compared with a conventional oil-fuelled tanker, the LNG-powered design reduces CO2 emissions by at least 20 percent.

The American Bureau of Shipping, the US classification society, has held its annual meeting of members in Houston and recalled a past year of success in enacting ship safety and technical development, including in the LNG and gas carriers sphere.

The American Bureau of Shipping, the US classification society, said the first of an order of 12 very large ethane carriers (VLECs) with LNG notation and built to ABS Class has been delivered from the Goeje shipyard in South Korea of Samsung Heavy Industries.

The “Seri Everest” was handed over to Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical (STL) and is the first of a phase-one order by STL which was subsequently sold to the Malaysian shipping line, MISC Group.

The vessel with more than 98,000 cubic metres capacity is the largest VLEC ever built.

A second phase of the order also includes six vessels, bringing the total to 12, scheduled for trade from the US to China to support STL’s ethane cracker facility in the eastern Chinese province of Jiangsu.

“This is the first VLEC to be delivered with the LNG Cargo-Ready notation that was released by ABS in 2019,” said the US class society.

“The notation provides assurance to owners and charterers that the VLEC can be upgraded to trade LNG cargoes in the future,” ABS explained.

Christopher J. Wiernicki, Chairman, President and Chief Executive of Houston, Texas-based ABS said that as part of the shale-gas revolution, shipping of liquefied ethane was developing into a significant new market.

“At ABS we have supported this development from the early stages and are happy to see that this leadership role is being recognized in the current VLEC market,” added Wiernicki.

Yee Yang Chien, President and Group Chief Executive of MISC, said he was proud to welcome “Seri Everest” as the first VLEC in MISC’s existing fleet.

“With this first delivery, our VLEC has set a new benchmark in the ethane market,” added Yee.

“The ‘Seri Everest’ has the capacity of transporting large-scale ethane over long distances while ensuring the highest level of safety and reliability,” stated the MISC CEO.

“We hope to continue to capitalize on this opportunity as we are confident that we will gain a strong foothold to cater to the increasing demand in this niche segment,” said Yee.

The MISC CEO noted that he was pleased that the “Seri Everest” was delivered according to schedule amidst the disruption caused by the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Hohyun Jeong, SHI Executive Vice President for Engineering Operations, said that it was great to have the VLEC delivered on time during the pandemic as well as with the addition of the newly introduced ABS LNG Cargo Ready notation.

“The VLEC has been built with a cargo containment system for dual cargo loading and the cargo-handling system can be converted for LNG at any time, as needed,” Jeong explained.

“It has been all thanks to the close cooperation with ABS, STL and MISC working from anywhere, regardless of location,” he added.

ABS is the leader in provision of classification services to VLEC owners.

The US class society was chosen to oversee the very first order for six dedicated VLECs in 2014 by the Indian company, Reliance Industries.

ABS said the 87,000 cubic metres capacity VLECs have been successfully trading for Reliance and laid the foundation for the next generation of larger VLECs.

The American Bureau of Shipping, the US classification society, has granted approval to two Chinese designs related to ship fuel for vessels powered by liquefied natural gas being constructed by the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Group Co.

The American Bureau of Shipping, US classification society, has launched a new guide for liquefied natural gas tank barges with remote control and monitoring of essential systems.

Wison Offshore and Marine, the Chinese shipbuilding company and builder of the first floating LNG production barge set to be deployed in Argentina, has received approval from the American Bureau of Shipping for its latest Floating Natural Gas-to-Methanol facility, recalling previous methanol and LNG plans for the Tassie Shoal offshore Australia.