On February 28, NYK and Tokyo LNG Tanker Co. Ltd.,1 a wholly owned subsidiary of Tokyo Gas Co. Ltd., agreed to a 20-year contract for the charter and joint ownership of a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier. NYK also concluded a contract with Japan Marine United Corporation (JMU) for construction of the LNG carrier, which will have a cargo tank capacity of 165,000 cubic meters, the company said in its press release.
At present, NYK and Tokyo LNG Tanker jointly own two LNG carriers. The newly built vessel will be the third operated under joint ownership by the two companies. Upon completion of shipbuilding in 2017, the ship will be mainly used for LNG transportation from the Cove Point LNG project in the United States.
The new LNG carrier will employ the self-supporting prismatic-shaped IMO type-B (SPB) design developed by the IHI Corporation and JMU. The SPB design features a precise analysis of structural strength and fatigue integrity, together with a quality-control process that ensures complete machining accuracy and welding and thus results in a very safe vessel having an extremely high structural reliability. Moreover, the carrier will have a structural advantage in that most of the tank will be fitted inside the hull, allowing favorable front views from the vessel’s bridge as well as reduced wind resistance.
In addition, to comply with environmental regulations for vessel operations along the U.S. coast2 the new LNG carrier will be equipped with a tri-fuel diesel electric propulsion system3 that can use low-sulfur fuel oil, in addition to a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system.4 Moreover, insulating materials will be installed in the carrier to suppress the boil-off rate5 in the cargo tank to 0.08 percent of tank volume per day, the world’s lowest level. The new carrier will have superior fuel-efficiency and mitigate environmental burdens.
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