The Ever-Increasing Transport Capacity Of Conventional LNG Carriers

Until the year 2000, the LNG Carriers with the carrying capacity between 120,000 and 138,300 cbm were considered to be within the conventional size range. By the year 2010, the LNG transport capacity of LNG carriers labelled as "conventional LNG carriers" increased up to 177,000 cbm.
The LNG carrier "Spirit of Hela", built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2009, with an LNG transport capacity of 177,000 cbm, was the largest conventional LNG carrier at the time.  
By the year 2020, the LNG transport capacity of LNG carriers labelled as "conventional LNG carriers" exceeded 180,000 cbm. The LNG carrier "Pacific Breeze", built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries in 2018, with an LNG transport capacity of 182,683 cbm, was the largest conventional LNG carrier until the year 2022. It is still the largest LNG carrier with Moss-type tanks (Spherical IMO Type-B Tanks).
After the year 2021, the transport capacity of LNG carriers labelled as "conventional" reached the threshold of 200,000 cbm. There are currently six LNG carriers with the transport capacity of 200,000 cbm in operation:
- LNG Carrier "Clean Cajun" built by Hyundai Heavy Industries for Dynagas Ltd. It was delivered in May 2022.
- LNG Carrier "Clean Copano" built by Hyundai Heavy Industries for Dynagas Ltd. It was delivered in July 2022.
- LNG Carrier "Clean Resolution" built by Hyundai Heavy Industries for Dynagas Ltd. It was delivered in September 2023.
- LNG Carrier "Clean Destiny" built by Hyundai Heavy Industries for Dynagas Ltd. It was delivered in November 2023.
- LNG Carrier "Clean Vitality" built by Hyundai Heavy Industries for Dynagas Ltd. It was delivered in February 2024.
- LNG Carrier "Clean Future" built by Hyundai Heavy Industries for Dynagas Ltd. It was delivered in April 2024.

In 2025, Hyundai Heavy Industries is expected to deliver to Dynagas Ltd. another three 200,000 cbm LNG carriers:
- LNG Carrier "Clean Mistral" (Hull No. 3356) in March 2025;
- LNG Carrier "Clean Levant" (Hull No. 3357) in April 2025;
- LNG Carrier "Clean Srocco" (Hull No. 3358) in December 2025.

In 2026, Hyundai Heavy Industries is expected to deliver to Dynagas Ltd. another three 200,000 cbm LNG carriers:
- LNG Carrier "Clean Texas" (Hull No. 3433) in April 2026;
- LNG Carrier "Clean Rio Grande" (Hull No. 3434) in July 2026;
- LNG Carrier "Clean Brownsville" (Hull No. 3435) in November 2026.                                                                

In 2027, Hyundai Heavy Industries is expected to deliver to Dynagas Ltd. another two 200,000 cbm LNG carriers:
- Hull No. 3452 in May 2027;
- Hull No. 3453 in November 2027.     

The cargo tanks of these LNG carriers were designed by Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) with GTT Mark III Flex+ membrane containment and insulation system which keeps the LNG boil-off rate at 0.07% per day.
Dynagas Ltd. is not the only company which ordered 200,000 cbm LNG carriers. The US LNG supplier, Venture Global LNG ordered six 200,000 cbm LNG carriers to Hanwha Ocean, formerly known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, with three to be delivered in 2025 – Hull No. 2541 in July 2025, Hull No. 2542 in October 2025 and Hull No. 2543 in December 2025 – and three to be delivered in 2026.
The cargo tanks of these LNG carriers were designed by Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) with GTT NO96–L–03+ membrane containment and insulation system which keeps the LNG boil-off rate at 0.10% per day.
By the end of 2027, there will be twenty conventional LNG carriers with the transport capacity of 200,000 cbm. Their common feature is the M-type electronically controlled, gas admission (ME-GA) engine which has been designed by MAN B&W for large LNG carriers with high power consumption. It can be used with the shaft generator systems with a large power output to supply the necessary electricity to the ship.
ME-GA engine is a two-stroke dual-fuel LNG engine that runs on the Otto thermodynamic cycle.
It can operate in gas mode and diesel mode. In gas mode, it can operate with a wide range of boil-off gas qualities and with different quantities of fuel gas.  
ME-GA engine has a low-pressure fuel gas supply system (FGSS) with low maintenance costs.
When operating in gas mode, ME-GA engine generates only a negligible methane slip because it is equipped with the Exhaust Gas Recirculation ByPass (EGRBP) technology which reduces significantly the methane slip¹.
ME-GA engine generates low NOx (nitrogen oxides) emissions. The Exhaust Gas Recirculation ByPass enables the ME-GA engine to comply with the NOx Tier III emission limits in the Emission Control Areas not only when operating in gas mode but also when operating in fuel oil mode.

by Vlad Cioarec, International Trade Consultant

This article has been published in Commoditylaw`s Gas Trade Review Edition No. 4.

Endnotes:

1. The methane slip is the unburned methane that escapes into the atmosphere when an engine burns natural gas.