Pelayaran Bahtera Adhiguna, a subsidiary of Indonesia's state-owned power company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PT PLN) has contracted with Qingdao Wuchuan Heavy Industry’s shipyard in northern China to build the world's first compressed natural gas (CNG) carrier.
The CNG carrier will transport natural gas from Indonesian fields in East Java to the island of Lombok, benefiting relatively remote communities that are not economically feasible to supply by pipeline.
The CNG carrier has been designed by China's CIMC Ocean Engineering Design & Research Institute, and will be classed by ABS and by the Indonesian class society Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia. The largest share of LNG ships are currently being built to ABS classification standards.
ABS has long been a leader in the safe transport and handling of gas, having classed the world’s first LNG carrier, the Methane Pioneer in 1959 (watercolor at right), and subsequently responding to the evolving technology demands of the largest and most modern units currently in service.
In China, it was the class of choice for the first ten large LNG ships (147,000cu m and 172,000cu m) built in the country’s yards. ABS has also worked on several CNG carrier concepts, supporting them through the approval-in-principle process or to final approval.
ABS Chairman and CEO, Christopher J. Wiernicki, said: “As society's demands continue to drive the search for cleaner forms of energy, new methods of marine transport, propulsion and processing for gas are being required. ABS remains committed to being on the leading edge of that technical evolution, supporting industry and regulators as they navigate through the challenges.”
PT PLN's inaugural CNG ship will be 110m long and able to sail at up to 14 knots. It is designed with a CNG capacity of 2200cu m and will fly the Indonesian flag.
The contract follows ABS’ unveiling of its new Global Gas Solutions team, a multi-disciplinary group of technical specialists formed to respond to the rapidly escalating number of gas-related projects, including LNG and LPG transportation, the use of LNG and LPG as fuel and a growing number of floating LNG (FLNG) projects.
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