Bureau Veritas (BV) awarded concept approval to CS1, a new membrane containment system developed by Gaztransport and Technigaz (GTT) for the transportation by sea of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
In Paris on January 10, Bernard Anne, managing director of BV's marine division, presented a certificate of approval to GTT chairman Jacques Dhellemes, who said, "BV's marine department has a long-standing involvement with GTT's work on LNG cargo containment systems. The concept approval certificate awarded by BV to our containment system is a result of the well-established co-operation which exists between GTT and BV, working together in partnership.
"This co-operation has been especially effective over the past three years in terms of liquid motion analysis, with GTT membrane containment systems being validated for partial filling levels, and LNG and FPSO concepts being developed using risk-based procedures taking direct account of the external and internal loads on Finite Element Modelling."
The CS1 containment system benefits from recent significant improvements in methods of calculation. It is said by its developers to be a major advance on previous systems, and is the result of experience accumulated over the past forty years.
CS1 complies with all IMO requirements, and has been designed in accordance with a forty-year North Atlantic operational lifespan. It is designed also to allow for the partial loading of LNG cargoes, providing detailed sloshing analysis for partially filled tanks to any cargo loading level. Concept approval is the final step before the concept itself is applied to the vessel, prior to full classification or certification by Bureau Veritas.