Gas Carriers News

As marine operators and euipment manufacturers continue to explore alternative marine fuels as a means to help lower vessel emissions, technology group Wärtsilä said it has initiated combustion trials using ammonia.As part of the tests, ammonia was injected into a combustion research unit to better understand its properties. Based on initial results, the tests will be continued on both dual-fuel and spark-ignited gas engines. These will be followed by field tests in collaboration with ship owners from 2022…

Svitzer, the towage operator that is part of Maersk, announced a 10-year extension of its marine service contract with Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd., a consortium set up to develop and manage the Sakhalin-II project, aimed at producing and exporting oil and liquefied gas.Svitzer has been providing towage services to the Sakhalin-II project since 2007, and the extension comes into effect in November 2022 to support the mooring of more than 1,800 gas carriers with a vessel fleet of four Robert Allen ice-breaking tugs and two mooring boats.

French naval engineering company GTT said it could possibly see delays to vessel construction and revenue collection due to the coronavirus outbreak.However, the group, which generates most of its revenues in Asia, said it had not observed any delay in vessel construction schedules to date.The Paris-based company, which designs tanks for liquefied natural gas carriers, posted a marginally better than expected 2019 core profit of 174.3 million euros ($189.4 million), while revenue…

Singapore-based ship owner BW LPG said it exercised an option for the delivery of four additional liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) dual-fuel engines. With this, BW LPG has committed to retrofit eight vessels with pioneering propulsion technology.In August 2018, BW LPG announced its plans four very large gas carriers (VLGCs) in its fleet with LPG dual-fuel engines – a world's first.The ship owner, together with classification society DNV GL, Wärtsilä Gas Solutions and MAN Energy Solutions…

Smart LNG LLC, a joint venture of Sovcomflot and Novatek, signed an agreement with VEB.RF Group for lease financing of four Arc7 icebreaking LNG carriers for the Arctic LNG 2 project. At the same time, SMART LNG signed long-term time charter agreements for these tankers with Arctic LNG 2 LLC.The vessels will be built at Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex in the Russian Far East. Earlier, in October 2019, SCF Group signed financing and long-term time charter agreements for the lead vessel in this series.The design of the series draws upon the experience of operating Christophe de Margerie, the world’s first icebreaking LNG carrier, introduced in 2017. This led to the integration of various advanced engineering solutions into the design.

Belgium-headquartered manager of specialized floating assets Exmar said that China Export Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) approved the release of $40 million from the debt service reserve account under the TANGO FLNG loan facility.The documentation for the release of the restricted cash has been signed and the effective release will occur within the coming days.In the meantime the TANGO FLNG has exported its second cargo for YPF in December 2019 and the third cargo is being produced.Exmar has two Very Large Gas Carriers under construction at Jiangnan…

The Wuhan coronavirus outbreak has placed the shipping industry on high alert amid a rising death toll in China and reports that the fast-spreading illness is reaching new shores.The flu-like coronavirus, first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China on December 31, has killed more than two dozen people in China and is believed to have infected more than 900 worldwide, according to several media reports. Cases have been confirmed in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong, and internationally in travelers returning from China to Japan…

Avance Gas Holding, a company engaged in the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), has entered into shipbuilding contracts for two 91,000 cbm,  LPG dual-fuel very large gas carriers (VLGCs) with South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME).The Norwegean LPG shipping firm said that the vessels are are scheduled for delivery in Q4 2021 and Q1 2022.The transaction enhances the green profile of the Avance Gas fleet while increasing its competitiveness.

BW LPG Limited, owner and operator of LPG vessels,  said that Martin Ackermann has decided to step down as CEO at the end of this year for family reasons, after five years leading the company from Singapore.Anders Onarheim, a non-executive director of BW LPG since 2013 and former Managing Director of Carnegie, will act as interim CEO of BW LPG.Martin Ackermann, CEO of BW LPG, said: “It has been a privilege to lead BW LPG through some challenging years and to see it continue as a strong platform for the future”.Andreas Sohmen-Pao…

French multinational naval engineering firm Gaztransport & Technigaz SA (GTT) has received orders from an Asian Shipyard concerning the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tank design of three new LNG carriers.All three will be built on behalf of European ship-owners. The delivery of these vessels is scheduled between the end of 2021 and mid-2022.The names of the contracting parties and the characteristics of the vessels remain confidential at this stage.GTT is an engineering company expert in containment systems with cryogenic membranes used to transport and store liquefied gas…

Epic Gas Shipping Company,  which owns and operates a fleet of fully pressurized gas carriers, has announced the acquisition of 2015-built 11,000 cbm LPG carrier Epic Sicily.The Singapore-based LPG carrier operator said that the vessel, Epic Sicily, is built by the Sasaki Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. of Japan in 2015.The vessel has been on bareboat charter-in since Feb 2015 and Epic Gas is now exercising the purchase option under the charter contract. Finance of 60% of the acquisition cost comes from Epic Gas’s recently closed refinancing…

Belgium's Exmar, the Nicolas Savery-led shipowner, reported strong earnings for the very large gas carriers (VLCCs), and midsize gas carriers for the the third quarter of 2019. The current trading fleet of Exmar in the VLGC segment is the 83,300 m³ BW TOKYO. During the quarter the vessel has been extended to a first-class counterpart at a profitable rate to Exmar in line with strong market fundamentals.The two 88,000 m³ next generation dual fuel newbuildings with a long-term charter to Equinor are progressing according to schedule with expected delivery second and third quarter 2021…

The largest Liquid Ethylene Gas (LEG) ship owner in China has agreed a commitment to install Fleet Xpress connectivity from Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications on all its vessels. This will also include Inmarsat’s Fleet Secure Endpoint, the new line of defense in the multi-layered strategy to thwart cyber threats.Pacific Gas has committed to the new Fleet Secure Endpoint solution within the terms of its agreement to install Fleet Xpress across…

Norwegian shipowner Ocean Yield ASA has agreed to acquire Navigator Aurora, a 37,300 cbm ethylene gas carrier owned by Navigator Gas.According to agreement, the ship will be purchased for a total consideration of USD 69.75 million net of a seller’s credit, with a 13-year bareboat charter to a company 100% owned and guaranteed by Navigator Holdings - Navigator Gas.The vessel is expected to be delivered to the Company during October 2019. Navigator Gas has certain options to acquire the vessel during the charter period.

About one-third of the oil tankers owned by COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) have shut off their ship-tracking transponders since the United States imposed sanctions on the company for allegedly shipping Iranian crude, shipping data showed.From Sept. 30 to Oct. 7, a total of 14 COSCO Dalian ships, six of which carry some oil, stopped sending location data from their automatic identification system (AIS), ship tracking data on Refinitiv Eikon showed. The U.S. imposed the sanctions on Sept.

Danish shipping company J. Lauritzen has selected Marlink to deploy fully integrated and managed IT services on all Lauritzen Kosan managed gas carriers. The solution will be based on Marlink’s ITLink portfolio, with the KeepUp@Sea platform enabling automation of software and security updates, network and PC health monitoring and remote access for fast issue resolution. Once implemented, Lauritzen Kosan will benefit from a fully standardized ICT setup across its fleet, and have…

South Korea shipbuilding giant Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) group said that its unit Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries has won a deal to build two crude carriers.The shipbuilding deal worth KRW 158.7 billion (about USD 132.8 million) was signed with an undisclosed company from Oceania on September 23, 2019, HSHI said in a stock exchange filing.According to Yonhap, Hyundai Samho will build two 158,000-deadweight-ton (DWT) crude carriers by May 2021 for the unidentified Oceanian customer.Hyundai Samho…

At Gastech trade fair in Houston, DNV GL presented South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. (DSME) with Approval in Principle (AIPs) certificates for two new 98,000 cubic meter (cbm) ethylene carrier cargo tank designs. In a hand-over ceremony at the DSME booth, Odin Kwon, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of DSME, received the AIP certificates from Johan Petter Tutturen, DNV GL – Maritime’s Business Director Gas Carriers.“This is another great milestone in our longstanding relationship with DNV GL…

The class organization American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has granted the approval in principle (AIP) for the LNG Jumbo, two next generation gas carrier designs from the Chinese Jiangnan Shipyard Group.ABS granted AIP for a 91,000m3 Very Large Gas Carrier (VLGC) Panda 91T design and for the “BrilliancE”, a new 99,000 m3 Type B Very Large Ethane Carrier (VLEC) Bluebonnet design.“ABS is proud to support the pioneering work of Jiangnan in the design and delivery of gas carriers. By awarding this AIP…

American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), the provider of classification, technical, and regulatory services for the marine industry, launched the industry’s first LNG Cargo Ready notation.The development was announced at a joint event with GTT, highlighting progress towards delivering “LNG Cargo Ready” ethane carriers.The ABS LNG Cargo Ready notation confirms that an ethane carrier is capable of future modification to trade LNG cargoes. ABS is the first classification society to develop…

French liquefied natural gas containment system specialist Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) announced that it has  received two orders from the Korean shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).Each order is concerning the tank design of one new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier (LNGC), one on behalf of the ship-owner Tsakos and the other one on behalf of Capital Gas Carriers, said the engineering company.Each unit will offer a capacity of 174,000 m3, it said.GTT will design the tanks of the vessels, which will be fitted with the Mark III Flex membrane containment system.

ABS, the global provider of classification and technical advisory services to the marine and offshore industries, announced that it is collaborating with South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) on a next generation LNG carrier in a joint development project (JDP) signed today at Gastech 2019.“ABS is a leader in gas carriers with a proud record of supporting innovation, delivering operational efficiencies and advancing the cause of safety. This exciting project with SHI for a state-of-the-art vessel represents the next step in that journey…

American Ethane Company (AEC) is collaborating with ABS, the global provider of classification and technical advisory services to the marine and offshore industries, on a next generation fleet of Ultra Large Ethane Carriers (ULEC).ABS is actively supporting AEC and its shipping project partners, who will build, own and operate a fleet of ULECs to transport 7.2 MTPA of US ethane to China.“ABS is a world leader in the classification of gas carriers and classes the majority of the large ethane carriers built to date…