BP’s new LNG carriers set sail

The first out of six brand new liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers being built by South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering for BP has set sail, according to the UK-based energy giant.

To remind, the six “Partnership class” LNG carriers have been ordered in 2014 at the South Korean shipbuilder as the company looked to expand its fleet to support its growing LNG portfolio.

BP shipping unit’s operated fleet welcomed the delivery of the first LNG carrier British Partner on May 29.

With a capacity of 173,400 cubic metres of LNG and a length of 295m, it is the largest LNG vessel BP Shipping has ever owned or operated.

The vessel will be able to carry the equivalent of 69 Olympic size swimming pools of LNG, according to BP.

The other vessels will join existing carriers in BP Shipping’s fleet in 2018 and 2019. They will serve a 20-year liquefaction contract with the Freeport LNG facility in Texas, as well as other international LNG projects in BP’s global portfolio.

They will transport LNG around the world – not just to established markets, such as India, China, the US and Australia, which are all enjoying substantial growth, but also in emerging new markets, such as Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt and Bangladesh, where consumer demand is increasing rapidly, BP said.

Each vessel will have the capacity to transport about 174,000 cubic meters of natural gas and feature M-type, electronically controlled gas-injection (ME-GI) propulsion and DSME’s partial reliquefaction system.

The slow speed tri-fuel engines, each of which has its own shaft, propeller and rudder, use compressed boil-off gas from cargo tanks as fuel.

Worth mentioning, BP last year tied two finance partners KMarin and ICBC Leasing to invest over $1 billion into the six LNG carriers.

LNG World News Staff