First LPG Carrier Order for MHI Shipbuilding
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., a group company of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), announced it has received an order from Astomos Energy Corporation for a very large liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier.
The order marks the very first to be received by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipbuilding since the company's launch on October 1. The LPG carrier on order is identical to the four vessels Astomos Energy has already ordered to MHI since 2013.
According to the builder, the ship will provide a high level of energy-saving performance, flexibility to accommodate major LPG terminals around the globe and specifications suited to passage through the newly expanding Panama Canal. Completion and delivery are scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2018.
The LPG carrier newly ordered to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipbuilding will measure 230 meters (m) in length overall (LOA), 36.6m in width and 11.1m in draft, with gross tonnage of 48,300 tons (t) and deadweight tonnage of 51,100t. It will have capacity to carry up to 83,000 cubic meters (m3) of LPG.
The adoption of MHI's hull design and other features will provide the carrier with superlative fuel efficiency and outstanding adaptability to the diverse connecting conditions of the world's LPG terminals, the builder said. The ship will also be equipped with advanced systems, including mooring arrangement, to enable passage through the newly expanding Panama Canal, which is expected to become operable in the first half of 2016.
Besides the newly ordered carrier, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipbuilding will also build or complete the four ships previously ordered by Astomos Energy to MHI.
Astomos Energy presently operates a fleet of 21 very large LPG carriers. All six vessels owned by the company and 10 of the company's 15 time-chartered vessels were built by MHI at the Nagasaki Shipyard. Currently Astomos Energy, in its new medium-term business plan beginning in fiscal 2015, is targeting expansion of its LPG transport structure and an increase in its gross LPG handling volume from the current 10 million tons per year (mtpy) to more than 12mtpy by 2017.
The order newly placed to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipbuilding is an integral part of that initiative. The new carrier, when completed, will replace a vessel owned by Astomos Energy that was built in the early 1990s.
With the emergence of the "shale gas revolution" in the United States, demand for LPG produced in North America is projected to increase over the medium to long term in markets worldwide, including East Asia.
In tandem with this expansionary trend, coupled with the enlargement of the Panama Canal, newly constructed ships must offer increased carrying capacities and be able to transport over longer distances. They must also perform to tightening environmental restrictions imposed on such ship navigations. The LPG carrier newly ordered by Astomos Energy to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipbuilding will satisfy these various requirements and simultaneously meet the needs of the company's plan to build the world's most advanced LPG carrier fleet.
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Shipbuilding was established as a shipbuilding company succeeding to the commercial ship construction business of MHI in the Nagasaki area. The new firm focuses on the construction of LPG and LNG (liquefied natural gas) carriers and is pursuing enhancement of production efficiency through continuous construction of the identical ship type.
