South Korea’s shipbuilder Hyundai Mipo is continuing works on Knutsen’s small-scale LNG carrier and it has recently installed the third tank onboard the 30,000-cbm vessel.
The newbuild will be one of the world’s first small and medium-scale LNG carriers to feature C-type bi-lobe cargo tanks.
Hyundai Mipo, a unit of Hyundai Heavy, won the deal to build the vessel for about $76.7 million back in 2018.
The vessel features a dual-fuel propulsion supplied by Finland’s Wartsila as well as a boil-off gas (BOG) reliquefaction system.
It is 180 meters long and 28.4 meters wide.
Norway’s Knutsen previously said it expects to take the delivery of the LNG carrier in the first quarter of 2021.
Following delivery, the vessel will go on a 12-year charter with Italian energy company Edison to serve a small-scale facility currently under construction in the Italian port of Ravenna.
Edison and compatriot PIR Group are investing about $112 million in the terminal with a storage capacity of 20,000 cubic meters with an aim to provide a fuel alternative for the naval and truck transportation sector.