Liquified Natural Gas News

Shipyard order books show that more and more ships are being built that can run on methanol or liquified natural gas (LNG). Major shipping companies are investing in green fuels for their fleets, and researchers around the world are working intensely to find new solutions that can make the shipping industry greener.This is all good news that strengthens the belief that shipping is reducing its emissions of greenhouse gases, among others. While there is reason for some optimism, as shipping is becoming more sustainable, there is no doubt that we are still very far from the goal.

Dutch tank storage company Vopak has signed an initial agreement with Japan's IHI Corporation to explore the development and operation of ammonia terminals, as they expect demand for the low-carbon fuel to grow amid energy transition.The companies will lean on their experience in building ammonia storage tanks and terminals to focus on developing large-scale ammonia storage terminals that will allow for economical distribution of the fuel, the companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday.They…

Classification society ABS announced it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to review an innovative new design from HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for a dual-fuel, very large ammonia carrier (VLAC) for Eastern Pacific Shipping Pte. Ltd. (EPS).ABS joins project partners EPS, HHI and HHI Engine & Machinery Division, MAN Energy Solutions and the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.Fueled by ammonia and liquified natural gas (LNG), the 88K/93K cbm vessel design is expected to meet the demand for greenhouse gas reduction…

Maritime classification society ABS has issued an approval in principle (AIP) to Hanwha Ocean for its design of a liquified natural gas (LNG) carrier equipped with an ammonia-fueled gas turbine.ABS also issued an AIP to Hanwha Power Systems for its supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power system. Efficiency improvements are reported as a result of using sCO2 as a working fluid in the turbine.The 174,000 cbm vessel would be the world’s first carbon emission-free LNG carrier. The LNG carrier can use ammonia and natural gas separately or simultaneously as fuel.

ABS, Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) and DHT Holdings, Inc. signed a joint development project (JDP) to optimize a new, very large crude carrier (VLCC) with liquified natural gas (LNG) propulsion that meets Class and statutory requirements.The dual fuel vessel is intended to provide flexibility for operations and to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.The agreement—signed at the Gastech 2023 conference in Singapore—will see ABS, GTT and DHT focus on optimizing the VLCC design…

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) issued an approval in principle (AIP) to Hudong-Zhonghua (HZ) Shipyard for its new  liquified natural gas (LNG) carrier design, currently the world’s largest with 271,000 cubic meters of cargo tank capacity.The design features flexible dual-fuel propulsion and an air lubrication system for more sustainable operations. The synergy of a more efficient hull and the use of low-carbon fuel in the fuel-efficient engine is expected to translate to the lowering of the overall carbon footprint of the vessel…

Commercial maritime shipping has a fuel problem. While the industry has cemented its position as the essential piece of the global supply chain—moving more than 80% of all international goods by volume—its dependence on carbon-emitting fuel has come with a high cost.Maritime shipping is responsible for roughly 3% of all greenhouse gas emissions, according to the International Maritime Organization. The longer that ships continue to run on carbon-emitting fuel, the harder it will be to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and to prevent the worst damage predicted by climate scientists.

“Not only does the top of the river move, but the bottom of the river also moves.” - James Bodron, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division, Regional Business Director.Dredging was the Herculean act that allowed much of the U.S. economy to keep chugging along as usual, at least for Midwest and Central states, as drought conditions threatened to shut down river traffic on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, during fall and winter 2022 and early 2023.The full scope of these U.S.

LNT Marine and Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute (SDARI) received approval in principle (AIP) from ABS for the latest variant of their LNT A-BOX liquified natural gas (LNG) containment system, which is more than three times the size of the previous design.The new design is for a 175,000-cubic-meter (m3) LNG carrier, a significant increase in capacity from the earlier 45,000 m3 design installed on the pioneering ABS-classed Saga Dawn carrier for Saga LNG Shipping.The LNT A-BOX system features self-supporting IMO Type-A tanks mounted within an insulated hold space.

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding and Nihon Shipyard -- a Tokyo-based joint venture for ship design and sales between Imabari Shipbuilding  and Japan Marine United Corporation -- have started joint study for the development of an ocean-going liquified CO2 (LCO2) carrier. Nihon Shipyard is pursuing this project with the aim of completing construction of the vessel from 2027 onwards.Demand for LCO2 carriers is expected to grow in the future as a means to transport large volumes of CO2 safely for CCS (Carbon dioxide Capture and Storage) projects, in which captured CO2 is stably stored underground.

James Fisher and Sons plc announced it has taken delivery of its second 6,000dwt LNG dual-fuel tanker, Lady Maria Fisher, which will be traded by James Fisher Everard (JFE) alongside its existing fleet.Built and launched at China Merchants Jinling (CMJL) shipyard in Yangzhou, China, the vessel is currently transporting cashew nut shell oil from Vietnam to Europe, where it will then be processed into bio-diesel.The newbuild and sister vessel Sir John Fisher delivered in November 2022 will replace two of James Fisher’s existing tankers and will be able to carry more cargo.

Freeport LNG, the second-largest U.S. liquefied natural gas exporter, on Monday said it had completed repairs to its Texas plant and asked U.S. regulators for permission to take early steps to restart the fire-idled facility.The closely-held liquified natural gas (LNG) company's export facility was knocked offline by a fiery blast on June 8 and barred from resuming production until federal regulators completed an extensive safety review and approved resulting changes.Freeport LNG sought permission to begin introducing LNG into the plant's piping system…

ABS and HD Hyundai signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to continue working together on marine autonomy projects. Building on shared efforts to expand the development of autonomous navigation technology into critical vessel machinery and safety systems, the organizations met again at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas to finalize the agreement covering four areas:Artificial Intelligence-based Autonomous Machinery Health Management Function (HiCBM)Artificial…

Hafnia will soon welcome four new dual fuel LR2 product tanker additions to its fleet from China's Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI).Owned by a joint venture of Hafnia and CSSC Shipping, the vessels will be time chartered out, including two each for TOTAL Energies and Equinor.The newbuilds are currently under construction and the first of the vessels Hafnia Languedoc, will be delivered in January 2023, with Hafnia Loire following in April. Both vessels have recently been launched from dry dock…

Member states of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the UN agency that regulates international maritime affairs, are meeting on December 5-16 to discuss how to accelerate the industry’s climate mitigation efforts.An initial strategy – agreed in 2018, when the industry’s emissions were roughly the same as Germany’s – targeted a 50% reduction in shipping’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and included a noncommittal aim to phase out emissions in line with the 1.5℃ temperature…

Classification organization ABS will open a global liquified natural gas (LNG) training center in Doha, Qatar, as part of its support of Qatar’s National Vision 2030 and the Tawteen Program, which focuses on education and quality employment for Qatari nationals.In collaboration with local corporations, the training center will focus on LNG production and operations, ensuring that seafarers are skilled to work with this dynamic fuel and the most modern fleet of vessels, ABS said.“LNG…

TotalEnergies, signatory of the Sea Cargo Charter in 2020, identified the need for a better monitoring system that also allows to report and optimize GHG emissions for its LNG fleet. Reporting on emissions was a tedious, manual time-consuming process that was prone to error, and left little room for optimization. BW, the owner and operator of some LNG vessels chartered by the energy major, was at the same time focused on monitoring and improving the environmental performance of…

Singapore-based Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) said it has secured a contract from U.S.-based Crowley for the charter of four dual fuel liquified natural gas (LNG) powered containership newbuilds.The 1,400-TEU vessels, which will be built by South Korea’s Hyundai Mipo Dockyard for delivery in 2025, will be deployed on Crowley’s U.S.-Central America trade connecting U.S. markets to Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. Each ship will feature 300 refrigerated unit plugs.Using LNG significantly lowers vessel greenhouse gas emissions…

PONANT’s new science-focused exploration vessel has started collecting Arctic Ocean data with -4H-JENA engineering’s FerryBox multi-parameter water measurement system on board.The system is now being used to evaluate the role of global warming and glacial meltwater on the rising level of oxygen in the oceans aboard PONANT’s Le Commandant Charcot, the world’s only luxury icebreaker, a hybrid-electric vessel powered by liquified natural gas.A unique concept with minimal environmental impact due to her green energy and propulsion systems…

The South Korean government on Monday called on striking workers at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) to end their month-long siege of a dock at the company's biggest shipyard, which has paralyzed production and is delaying delivery of new vessels.Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho called the occupation "outright illegal" and pledged a "stern response based on law and order."The shipyard near the city of Geoje, off the country's south coast, is one of the world's largest.

War in Ukraine is transforming the outlook for the supply, demand and price of hydrocarbons and the pace and cost of the energy transition. While the precise timing and implementation of future bans on Russian commodity imports are difficult to predict, a rewriting of energy trade flows is now underway. With the global economy on a knife edge and energy prices structurally higher, there a real risk of some global supply being lost. Europe’s push for more liquified natural gas…

Norwegian offshore vessel operator Eidesvik Offshore said Wednesday it has been awarded a contract for its 2012-built platform supply vessel (PSV) Viking Prince.The deal with Norwegian energy company Equinor is for a firm six-month period, plus options for further extensions. The contract will commence in April or May of this year.The liquified natural gas (LNG)-fueled Viking Prince was upgraded to battery hybrid system and a shore power system in January 2022.Gitte Gard Talmo, president and CEO of Eidesvik, said, “Equinor and Eidesvik have had a close collaboration for a number of years.

U.S. offshore vessel operator Harvey Gulf International Marine has signed an agreement with SailPlan, the maritime cleantech company that reduces ship emissions, to add SailPlan to its fleet.SailPlan is an emissions monitoring and optimization platform that combines the real-time engine, fuel, and navigational data from vessels with the weather, mapping, infrastructure, and traffic data to benchmark, optimize, and report fleet emissions.According to Sailplan, Harvey Gulf has already seen quantifiable emissions reductions beginning with the Harvey Power, a  310-foot Platform Supply Vessel.