LNG carrier

An LNG carrier is a tank ship designed for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). As the LNG market grows rapidly, the fleet of LNG carriers continues to experience tremendous growth.

The first LNG carrier Methane Pioneer (5,034 DWT) left the Calcasieu River on the Louisiana Gulf coast on 25 January 1959. Carrying the world's first ocean cargo of LNG, it sailed to the UK where the cargo was delivered. Subsequent expansion of that trade has brought on a large expansion of the fleet to today where giant LNG ships carrying up to 266,000 m³ (9,400,000 cu ft) are sailing worldwide. As of 2005^[update], a total of 203 vessels had been built, of which 193 were still in service.

As of January 2015, the global LNG shipping fleet consisted of 410 vessels. The success of the specially modified C1-M-AV1-type standard ship Normarti, renamed Methane Pioneer, caused the Gas Council and Conch International Methane Ltd. to order two purpose built LNG carriers to be constructed: Methane Princess and Methane Progress. The ships were fitted with Conch independent aluminum cargo tanks and entered the Algerian LNG trade in 1964. These ships had a capacity of 27,000 cubic metres (950,000 cu ft).

In the late 1960s opportunity arose to export LNG from Alaska to Japan, and in 1969 that trade was initiated. Two ships, each with a capacity of 71,500 cubic metres (2,520,000 cu ft), were built in Sweden. In the early 1970s, the US government encouraged US shipyards to build LNG carriers, and a total of 16 LNG ships were built. The late 1970s and early 1980s brought the prospect of Arctic LNG ships with a number of projects being studied.

With the increase in cargo capacity to approximately 143,000 cubic metres (5,000,000 cu ft), new tank designs were developed, from Moss Rosenberg to Technigaz Mark III and Gaztransport No.96.

In recent years, the size and capacity of LNG carriers has increased greatly. Since 2005, Qatargas has pioneered the development of two new classes of LNG carriers, referred to as Q-Flex and Q-Max. Each ship has a cargo capacity of between 210,000 and 266,000 cubic metres (7,400,000 and 9,400,000 cu ft) and is equipped with a re-liquefaction plant.

According to Tradewinds data, in January 2017 there were 122 new builds on order. The majority of new ships under construction are in the size of 120,000–140,000 m³ (4,200,000–4,900,000 cu ft), but there are orders for ships with capacity up to 260,000 m³ (9,200,000 cu ft). As of 2016^[update], there were 451 LNG ships engaged in the deepsea movement of LNG.

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