MHI christens second Sayaringo STaGE LNG carrier

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, a unit of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), christened the second Sayaringo STaGE type vessel, the Diamond Gas Rose.

LNG carrier under construction for a joint venture of Mitsubishi Corporation and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line), features increased LNG carrying capacity and fuel performance through adoption of a more efficient hull structure and an innovative hybrid propulsion system.

After completion in August, the Diamond Gas Rose will join the Diamond Gas Orchid, the first vessel of the same type which was completed in late June, in service transporting LNG for the Cameron LNG project, in Louisiana in which Mitsubishi Corporation and NYK Line are jointly participating, MHI said in a statement.

The christening ceremony was held at the main plant of MHI’s Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works.

Tokyo-based JERA, a joint venture between the TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) and Chubu Electric Power, is the supplier of the LNG to be carried by the Diamond Gas Rose.

The Diamond Gas Rose is 293.5 meters long and 48.94 meters wide, with a draft of 11.05 meters. The vessel is capable of transporting 165,000 cubic meters of the chilled gas.

The Sayaringo STaGE is the successor to the Sayaendo, a vessel featuring Moss-type spherical tanks. The adoption of apple-shaped tanks in the new Sayaringo STaGE has enabled an increase in LNG carrying capacity without changing the ship’s beam, while incorporation of a hybrid propulsion system.

STaGE, an acronym deriving from ‘Steam Turbine and Gas Engines’, is a hybrid propulsion system combining a steam turbine and engines that can be fired by gas.