On June 28, the 150,000 cbm Ultra Large Ethane Carrier (ULEC) and the 99,000 cbm Large Ethane Carrier (VLEC), jointly developed by China Merchants Heavy Industry (Jiangsu) and Design Company Deltamarin, were awarded the Approval in Principle (AIP) certificates issued by five international classification societies, including China Classification Society (CCS), Lloyd’s Register(LR), Det Norske Veritas, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and Bureau Veritas (BV), simultaneously.
The successful development of the two types of vessels marks a new breakthrough in the field of energy and chemical transportation vessels at China Merchants Heavy Industries Haimen shipyard (CMHI Haimen shipyard).
Both vessels adopt GTT Mark III membrane tank design, with cargo tank design temperature of -104℃ and evaporation rate of not more than 0.1%, which can transport various cargoes such as ethane, ethylene and LPG, and the four cargo tanks can meet the requirement of loading two kinds of cargoes at the same time. Both vessels adopt ethane/fuel oil dual-fuel main engine, and the energy efficiency design index meets the requirements of EEDI stage III.
The design approval of the new vessels is a milestone achievement for CMHI Haimen shipyard to promote the business of large gas liquid cargo carriers, which meets the latest market demand and proposes investment solutions for the development of the liquefied gas cargo transportation industry.