GTT has received two new orders for the tank design of four VLECs on behalf of a ship-owner whose name remains confidential at this stage, the company said in its release.
Korean shipyards Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) will each build two VLECs. Each of the vessels will offer a capacity of 98,000 m3. GTT will design the tanks, which will be fitted with the Mark III membrane containment system. The delivery of the vessels is scheduled for the second quarter of 2022.
Designed to be multi-gas units, i.e to transport ethane as well as several other types of gas, such as propylene, LPG and ethylene, the cargo tanks will benefit from the “LNG cargo ready” notation, thus offering the possibility to carry LNG in the future. These VLECs will be second generation ships which will optimize fuel consumption, reduce the boil-off rate and increase the cargo capacity.
Philippe Berterottière, Chairman and CEO of GTT declared: "One year after the orders for six second generation VLECs by Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical from HHI and SHI, we are pleased to continue this partnership of excellence with these two shipyards. These new orders confirm that GTT’s technologies are the reference solutions for very large ethane carriers.”