On January 27, France’s GTT announced that it had received an order from South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries to design liquid cargo tanks for three new very large ethane carriers (VLECs).
The VLEC will have a capacity of 100,000 cubic meters and will be equipped with GTT’s Mark III membrane containment system, enabling the transport of various types of liquefied gases such as ethane, ethylene, propane, butane, LPG and propylene.
Last December, Samsung Heavy Industries announced that it had received an order for three VLECs from an Asian shipowner, with a total value of approximately US$500 million and a single ship cost of approximately US$167 million. They are expected to be delivered in sequence before December 2027. Samsung Heavy Industries did not disclose the identity of the shipowner, but it is reportedly Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL).
GTT said that the design of this type of VLEC has been optimized. While the ship size remains unchanged, the cargo capacity has been increased from 98,000 cubic meters to 100,000 cubic meters, making it the world’s largest VLEC.