CIMC SOE starts building Seaspan’s second LNG bunkering ship
CIMC SOE starts building Seaspan's second LNG bunkering ship - Offshore Energy
CIMC SOE starts building Seaspan’s second LNG bunkering ship
Chinese shipbuilder CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering (CIMC SOE) has started building the second 7,600 cubic metre LNG bunkering ship for Canadian shipowner Seaspan.
The beginning of the construction was marked with a steel-cutting ceremony on 10 May at the Chinese shipyard.
The bunkering ship has a total length of 112.8 metres, a molded width of 18.6 metres, a design draft of 5 metres, and a design speed of 13 knots.
Equipped with two azimuth thrusters and two bow thrusters, this ship design integrates the latest technology, improves the capacity of the power storage system, and further reduces operational pollution emissions and greenhouse gas emissions, CIMC SOE said.
This is the second 7,600 cubic metre LNG bunkering ship that CIMC SOE is building for Seaspan under the agreement signed in May last year. The agreement has an option for the third vessel.
Construction of the first vessel began on 2 February 2023.
Related Knowledge Center: Liquefied natural gas
Driven by plentiful natural gas produced from shale plays, the United States began exporting liquefied natural gas in 2016 when the Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana opened and shipped its first cargo. Since then, additional capacity, or trains, have been added to Sabine Pass, and terminals have become operational in Cameron Parish, La.; Hackberry, La.; Cove Point, Md.; and Corpus Christi, Texas. The Energy Information Administration projects that U.S. LNG export capacity will reach 8.9 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) by the end of 2019, making it the third largest in the world, behind Australia and Qatar. The tariff war with China has the potential to impact some final investment decisions for additional terminals in the coming months.