US gas exporter Venture Global has announced it has purchased nine LNG-powered vessels currently under construction in South Korea that will be delivered starting later this year.
Six of the vessels will have a cargo capacity of 174,000 cubic metres (cbm) and three a cargo capacity of 200,000 cbm, the Virginia-based company said yesterday (17 March). All nine ships will be primarily fuelled by Venture Global’s liquefied natural gas.
‘This investment builds on our recent execution of a long-term terminal use agreement for regasification capacity at Europe’s largest LNG import terminal, further advancing the integration of our business across the entire LNG supply chain; from natural gas transmission, to liquefaction and export, to best-in-class LNG cargo ships and regasification capacity,’ said Venture Global CEO, Mike Sabel.
‘This will be complementary to our core business as a supplier to long-term customers while also enabling optimisation and optionality by allowing for the transport of LNG directly to the customer’s point of need.
‘We are sending a strong signal to the global market of our long-term commitment to meeting the world’s growing energy demand at a large scale, bolstering the security of our customers and allies by providing them with clean, affordable, and reliable US LNG as efficiently as possible.’
The vessels will be propelled by the latest two-stroke MEGA/MEGI engines which, highlighted Venture Global, in combination with the use of the most recent hull forms, shaft generator and air lubrication systems, ‘result in the highest fuel efficiency and lowest GHG emissions based on currently available LNG carrier technology.’
The selected main engine type supported by the shaft generator technology ‘significantly reduces methane slip’ compared to the previous generations of two-stroke and four-stroke propelled LNG carriers.
