Armed with GTT licence, Yangzijiang jumps into LNG shipbuilding

Yangzijiang successfully completed the GTT qualification process “in record time”, said GTT, as the first validation steps began in March 2022.

Yangzijiang has already secured an order for four dual-fuelled, 8,000-TEU container ships from Pacific International Lines (PIL). Built as ‘ammonia-ready’, the container vessels will use GTT’s Mark III membrane containment technology for the LNG fuel tanks. Each LNG fuel tank will include unique features to facilitate a potential conversion of the box ships to use ammonia as fuel.

The delivery of the four vessels is scheduled for each quarter of 2025.

GTT chairman and chief executive Philippe Berterottière, said, “In a tight market, this new partnership will provide new shipbuilding capacities to meet current demand. We look forward to a long and successful collaboration with our new partner.”

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding chairman and chief executive Letian Ren, said, “We look forward to working with GTT on the construction of LNG carriers, VLEC and LNG-fuelled merchant vessels.”

The agreement was announced during Gastech 2022 in Milan, Italy. Earlier during the trade fair, GTT revealed a new logo exemplifying “technological leadership and its capacity for innovation, while highlighting its promise of sustainability and its commitments to the energy and climate transition”, said the French cryogenic technology engineering company.