Qatar Petroleum along with several leading international LNG
companies is launching an effort to develop a new generation of liquefied
natural gas (LNG) carriers that incorporate new cargo containment systems.
According to the companies, LNG cargo containment systems are highly
specialized and have experienced few improvements over the past decades.
The multi-party agreement establishes a collaboration
between Qatar Petroleum, LNT Marine, the American Bureau of Shipping, and
Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding to work on the development of new medium and
large designs. Other major LNG companies, including Qatargas and affiliates of
ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell, and Total, will also participate in the
project.
Commenting on the agreement, His Excellency Saad Sherida
Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President & CEO of
Qatar Petroleum said: “We are pleased to collaborate with LNT Marine, ABS, and
SWS to introduce new designs utilizing innovative technologies to the LNG
shipping industry. With this signing, Qatar Petroleum reaffirms its commitment
to the continuous improvement of the LNG industry by supporting new concepts
and encouraging innovation in areas that benefit the industry as a whole, in a
safe and economic manner.”
The project will be looking to incorporate a new cargo
containment system developed by LNT based on IMO requirements for independent
type A tanks. The system, which features an IMO independent prismatic type A
tanks as the primary containment, was first deployed on a smaller LNG carrier
the Saga Dawn in 2020. Aboard that vessel that is operating between Singapore
and China, the tanks are supported by laminated wooded supports and
liquid-tight thermal insulation attached to the hull compartment as an
independent secondary barrier. ABS classed the Saga Dawn, which was constructed
by China Merchants Heavy Industry at its Jiangsu shipyard in Haimen, China.
“We are very pleased to cooperate with Qatar Petroleum and
other market leaders in the LNG industry, to support new technology development
for the next wave of LNG carriers,” said David Wu, LNT Marine’s Founder and
Chairman. “Based on our decade of hard work and today’s cooperation with Qatar
Petroleum, Qatargas, and the other distinguished international partners,
including ABS and SWS, we have confidence in our ability to develop
state-of-the-art LNG carrier designs to accommodate the future shipping
requirements of the LNG industry.”
Among the companies participating in the effort is Shanghai
Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding. The yard is a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding
Corporation.
In June 2020, Qatar Petroleum entered into construction
agreements valued at nearly $20 billion with South Korea’s three main
shipyards, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Hyundai Heavy
Industries, and Samsung Heavy Industries for the construction of more than 100
LNG carriers. At the time, said that it
had secured approximately 60 percent of the global LNG shipbuilding capacity
for the next seven years, creating the largest LNG shipbuilding program in
history. The three shipyards reserve a major portion of their LNG ship
construction capacity dedicating it through 2027 to Qatar Petroleum.