Cimc Enric : 14,000 Cubic Meters .. 2016/11/22

14,000 Cubic Meters LNG Carrier First Built in China Had A Successful Trial Voyage

In early November, the first 14,000-m3 LNG carrier made in China successfully completed its sea trial; the liquid cargo tanks of this carrier are provided by CIMC ENRIC Sanctum and Honto. It is one of the twenty LNG feeder vessels available in the world, which fills several domestic technological gaps and represents a milestone in improving Chinese LNG industry chain.

The design of the14,000-m LNG carrier meets non-restricted waters requirement and adopts the concept of wholly-refrigerated semi-pressure transportation, allowing it to carry a variety of goods including LNG. The ship is 126m*23m (L*W) with designed draft of 6.5 meters. There are two independent liquid cargo tanks in the cabin, each of which can accommodate 7,000m of liquid. It has been the largest capacity among the products of its kind. The liquid cargo tank was built by CIMC ENRIC Sanctum and Honto and completed in March 2016. The scheduled delivery effectively ensures successful trial voyage of the carrier.

These liquid cargo tanks were independently designed and developed in China. For the first time, China Classification Society (CCS) reviewed the drawing and supervised the construction process. The C-shaped tank is made from 9% nickel steel, and its diameter is 16m and length 40.3m. It is assembled by welding together 8 tanks and 2 hemispherical heads, weighing 550 tons in total.

Advanced production and design concept was introduced in the construction process: segmented pre-outfitting ratio reached 90%, and 40% cabin outfitting and piping design modularized, which greatly shortened construction period and won praise from the ship owner and shipyard.

The ship owner is a shipping company in Zhejiang, one of the first shipping companies obtaining LNG carrier operating license in China. The company provides shipping services for LPG and bulk chemicals, and 14,000-m3 LNG carrier was the first LNG vessel for this company.

LNG feeder vessels can transport LNG at large coastal terminals or adjacent production countries to small terminals, and then deliver it to users via tanker or local pipeline transport. The range of application: LNG import in small quantity, transfering and distribution at domestic large LNG terminals, exchanges between domestic large LNG terminals, etc. Compared with common LNG transportation by tanker, LNG feeder vessel will considerably improve the efficiency and security of short-distance LNG transportation at a lower cost.