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Ethane Carrier GasChem Beluga Named

Maritime Activity Reports, Inc.

April 27, 2017

  • GasChem Beluga, pictured on the River Tees for its naming ceremony, is an eco-friendly sea vessel that will carry shipments of ethane gas from Houston in the U.S. to SABIC’s Olefins Cracker on Teesside. (Photo: SABIC)
  • Odette Claus, wife of SABIC’s Global Director Supply Chain Liquids Frank Claus (right) with Captain Alfred Hartmann, founder of the Hartmann Group, after Mrs Claus officially named GasChem Beluga. (Photo: SABIC)
  • John Bruijnooge, Site Director of SABIC UK Petrochemicals, with a model of GasChem Beluga and, in the background, the innovative new eco-friendly vessel that will deliver ethane from Houston. (Photo: SABIC)
  • GasChem Beluga, pictured on the River Tees for its naming ceremony, is an eco-friendly sea vessel that will carry shipments of ethane gas from Houston in the U.S. to SABIC’s Olefins Cracker on Teesside. (Photo: SABIC) GasChem Beluga, pictured on the River Tees for its naming ceremony, is an eco-friendly sea vessel that will carry shipments of ethane gas from Houston in the U.S. to SABIC’s Olefins Cracker on Teesside. (Photo: SABIC)
  • Odette Claus, wife of SABIC’s Global Director Supply Chain Liquids Frank Claus (right) with Captain Alfred Hartmann, founder of the Hartmann Group, after Mrs Claus officially named GasChem Beluga. (Photo: SABIC) Odette Claus, wife of SABIC’s Global Director Supply Chain Liquids Frank Claus (right) with Captain Alfred Hartmann, founder of the Hartmann Group, after Mrs Claus officially named GasChem Beluga. (Photo: SABIC)
  • John Bruijnooge, Site Director of SABIC UK Petrochemicals, with a model of GasChem Beluga and, in the background, the innovative new eco-friendly vessel that will deliver ethane from Houston. (Photo: SABIC) John Bruijnooge, Site Director of SABIC UK Petrochemicals, with a model of GasChem Beluga and, in the background, the innovative new eco-friendly vessel that will deliver ethane from Houston. (Photo: SABIC)

A new liquefied ethylene gas carrier (LEG) was named on Teesside today.

 
Operated by German shipping company Hartmann Reederei and GasChem Services, the new eco-friendly sea vessel GasChem Beluga will carry shipments of ethane gas from Houston to SABIC’s cracker at Wilton on Teesside under a long-term time charter. 
 
SABIC recently converted its Teesside cracker during a major investment to enable it to take ethane gas alongside other feedstocks, to make it one of the most flexible and competitive crackers in Europe.
 
Next to the modification of the cracker itself, the conversion project required the build of a new cryogenic ethane tank and purpose built ships to transfer the ethane from the U.S. Gulf Coast to the U.K.
 
The first born of these ships is the GasChem Beluga. She made her maiden voyage from Shanghai through the Panama Canal to Houston in December to mark the official start of the contract-hiring period. The naming ceremony was held to bring good luck to the new ship and those who sail on it.
 
Built in China, the state-of-the-art ship was designed and developed specifically for SABIC by Hartmann Reederei, in cooperation with engineering consultants HB Hunte Engineering to take advantage of the emerging global ethane trade. 
 
The ship’s design focused on building the Eco Star 36K with svelte bow design. The new vessel type differs fundamentally from conventional gas carriers, as its superstructures are located at the bow. This results in an optimized distribution of weight and, therefore, a reduced demand for ballast water – which again leads to a reduced fuel consumption and emissions at the same time. The bow design enables the vessel to improve seakeeping at higher transit speeds and improved fuel efficiency.
 
The latest generation of the MAN B&W dual fuel two-stroke engine has high reliability and low fuel consumption with low emissions meeting the requirements of IMO Tier II.
 
The vessel is able to operate on HFO, MDO and gas oil as well as LNG and is one of the world’s first to operate on ethane.
 
The design of the Star-Trilobe cargo tank presents another world innovation to allow an increase in cargo capacity by nearly 30 percent leading to reduced shipping costs through higher economies of scale. 
 
The GasChem Beluga – which will be joined by a sister vessel the GasChem Orca in July - marks a new generation of semi-refrigerated ethylene/ethane carriers, designed for environmentally friendly operations with minimum emissions at a maximum of reliability and sea endurance. 
 
The new ships with a cargo capacity of 36,000m³ each for liquefied gas cargoes up to -104° C, will greatly reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and soot particles too by running engines on clean gas.
 
Odette Claus, the wife of Frank Claus, Global Director Supply Chain Liquids, officially named the vessel, at a ceremony in Teesport, which was attended by representatives and customers of SABIC and the Hartmann Group together with member of the Tees Shipping community.
 
Captain Alfred Hartmann, founder of the Hartmann Group said, “We are delighted that SABIC has chosen Hartmann Reederei as a partner in the development of this new type of vessel. 
 
“We are proud of the design, which is unique and highly efficient and to testify our commitment to a sustainable LEG-carrier which is also one of the largest in the world.” 
 
“Whales like Beluga and Orca symbolize a clean environment and therefore the name reflects the ‘green’ concept and technology of the vessels.”
 
Frank Claus concluded, “As a responsible global company, SABIC is committed to providing high-quality, competitively priced products to its customers whilst doing all it reasonably can in order to reduce the environmental impact of its operations.” 
 
“We would like to express our appreciation to all involved, especially the Hartmann and GasChem team for joining SABIC on the journey to deliver on a truly global supply chain. 
 
“Not only have we managed to lever ethane as an advantaged cracker feedstock, we are proud to be one of the first chemical companies in the world to use it as a clean fuel for our highly efficient ships as well.
 
“Our U.K. site in Teesside is of strategic importance to SABIC and also from a global supply chain perspective. 
 
“The flexible cracker project will secure the future of the Teesside site to provide continued employment for the broader community for the next few decades ahead. 
 
“These innovative ships illustrate the sustainable future that SABIC wants to help to create.”
 
ECO Star 36 K (Gaschem Beluga)
Length o.a.: 188.3 m
Breadth, moulded: 29 m
Design draught (ethane): 9.5 m
Main engine: MAN B&W 7G50ME-GIE
Power: 12.040 kW
Speed: abt. 16.5 kn
Classification: DNV GL
Delivery: November 2016, July 2017
 

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