Increased interest in the building of liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers at Chinese shipyards spurred the recent Large LNG Carriers Forum, held in Shanghai, and conducted jointly by classification societies ABS and CCS (China Classification Society) in conjunction with leading LNG operators.      

More than 150 representatives from the Chinese government, shipowners, shipbuilders, designers, energy corporations and universities attended the forum. Topics presented by leading industry participants Poten & Partners, NYK Line LNG Group and BG Americas included the global LNG market outlook, LNG carrier specifications and LNG carrier operations and fleet management. Providing the classification society perspective, ABS focused on the rewrite of the IMO IGC Code and updates related to the design of large LNG carriers while CCS discussed the thermal analysis of membrane systems for LNG carriers.    

“This forum has provided the opportunity for ABS and CCS to share with the Chinese government, shipyards, ship owners, LNG terminal operators and others the work that has been conducted to verify that LNG carrier designs and operations continue to remain the safest in the shipping industry,” said William J. Sember, ABS Vice President, Global Marketing. “There was a remarkable level of interest in all facets of LNG design and operation including the latest topics such as the calculation of IMO’s energy efficiency design index (EEDI) for these ships.”

To date China has delivered five LNG carriers, built at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corp. An order for a sixth vessel of the 147,000 m3 class was recently placed with Hudong. The five delivered ships serve two LNG terminals, one in Guangdong Province and the other in Fujian Province.  

China is currently in negotiations with leading energy companies for the building of a new series of LNG carriers.