On 18 September 2018 classification society DNV GL awarded Chinese shipyard Jiangnan with an Approval in Principle (AiP) for the design of a 93,000-cubic meter (cbm) very large ethane carrier.

Johan Petter Tutturen, Business Director Gas Carriers, DNV GL – Maritime, presented the AiP certificate to Hu Keyi, Chief Engineer of Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd, at the Gastech trade fair in Barcelona.

The flexible, efficient and environmentally friendly design was developed by Jiangnan Shipyard in cooperation with GTT, DNV GL and major equipment manufacturers.

Jiangnan and DNV GL have successfully collaborated on the joint design development and classification for various ship types, particularly in our leading ship type gas carriers.

Both Jiangnan and DNV GL will gain from the deeper and broader cooperation that this AiP represents.

The vessel will utilize GTT’s reinforced Mark III cargo containment system with a design temperature of minus 104 degrees centigrade.

Four standard cargo holds are capable of carrying ethane, ethylene and liquid petroleum gas (LPG), with a capacity of 93,000 cubic meters in total.

Significantly reduced fuel consumption was achieved after several rounds of hull form optimizations.

The proposed dual-fuel ethane/fuel oil main propulsion system with selective catalytic reduction (SCR) meets the IMO NOx Tier III requirements.

Further innovative features are a deck tank, shaft generator and an “LNG Ready” concept. Additionally, a USCG-certified ballast water treatment system has been applied to meet the upcoming regulations.