Asia’s largest LNG bunker vessel will be deployed to the world’s largest bunker port, Singapore, after a subsidiary of Mitsui OSK Lines contracted Sembcorp Marine to build a 12,000-m3 LNG bunker vessel
Asia’s largest LNG bunker vessel will be deployed to the world’s largest bunker port, Singapore, after a subsidiary of Mitsui OSK Lines contracted Sembcorp Marine to build a 12,000-m3 LNG bunker vessel.
To be constructed at Sembcorp Marine Tuas Boulevard Yard for Indah Singa Maritime Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), the LNG bunker vessel will be 112 m long and 22 m wide with two GTT Mark III Flex membrane tanks.
This will be the first LNG bunker vessel built by Sembcorp Marine, which will also fabricate the vessel’s membrane tanks under a licensing agreement with France’s GTT.
Mark III Flex membrane tanks have lower internal pressure, temperature and boil-off rate than IMO Type C tanks, which translates into greater tank durability, safer fuel transfer operations and reduced cargo loss through evaporation. The Mark III Flex membrane tanks also weigh less and occupy less ship space, allowing the vessel to carry more cargo and consume less fuel during transportation.
For cleaner propulsion, the LNG bunker vessel will have dual-fuel engines running on LNG or marine diesel oil.
When completed in early 2021, the vessel will go on long-term charter to Singapore state-owned Pavilion Gas Pte Ltd (PGPL) for deployment in Singapore.
Commenting on the contract for the new LNG bunker vessel, Sembcorp Marine president and chief executive Wong Weng Sun said, “This project marries Sembcorp Marine’s ship design and construction expertise with GTT’s industry-leading membrane tank system. We are confident the outcome will be a sophisticated newbuilding that not only delivers optimal technical performance, but also helps MOL and Pavilion Energy contribute to the expected standard of LNG bunkering operations in Singapore.”
Japan-based MOL teamed with Sembcorp Marine Specialised Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Sembcorp Marine Group, to construct the vessel, and Sinanju Tankers, a major bunker barge company, for a partner of ship management. The new ship will be the second LNG bunkering vessel in Singapore and is slated to start services after its delivery to PGPL in early 2021.
Singapore’s first bunker vessel is a 7,500-m3 capacity vessel being built for FueLNG, a joint venture of and Keppel Offshore & Marine. The vessel is under construction at the Keppel Singmarine yard at Nantong in China, with a target completion date of Q3 2020.
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