On November 24, Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), named and delivered the LNG GENEVA, a large-scale, 174,000 cubic meter liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier which independently designed and built by Hudong-Zhonghua.
The ship was not only named and delivered 5 months ahead of schedule, but also set a series of new historical records, such as dock mooring test in only 5 months, completion of conventional and gas “two-in-one” trial voyage in 5.5 days, overall construction cycle of 17.5 months, liquid cargo tank Yinwa steel welding tightness for 4 times with zero leakage, and etc. This marks the first time that all construction indexes of Chinese large-scale LNG carriers have fully surpassed those of foreign competitors and reached the world leading position.
“LNG GENEVA” ,following in the footsteps of the Mulan, Guiying and Wencheng, is the last vessel of a series of 4 vessels built by Hudong-Zhonghua for CSSC (Hong Kong) Shipping Co. and has drawn a successful conclusion to the project with its beautiful construction performance.
Hudong-Zhonghua, as a leading enterprise in China’s LNG industry chain, continued to optimize the construction technology and process, and constantly innovated to improve the management mode and efficiency during the construction of the LNG GENEVA.
Also, Hudong-Zhonghua continues to focus on key aspects such as “efficient loading in the dock, fast commissioning at the quay and streamlining the process of sea trial”, and strictly implements the LNG ship construction strategy of “improving efficiency through lean production and strengthening quality through optimized management”, which achieved the shortest construction period and the best construction quality.
The LNG GENEVA has an overall length of 295 meters, a beam of 45 meters, a depth of 26.25 meters and a speed of 19.5 knots, and is classified by LR and CCS. The vessel is equipped with the latest low-pressure dual-fuel main engine (X-DF) developed by CSSC Power, which has low energy consumption and good environmental performance. Compared with the same generation of vessels, the vessel is also specially equipped with deep cooling device, which provides a wider oil and gas balance interval for low-carbon voyages, and can be adapted to the various needs for evaporative gas balance utilization on different routes, such as short-distance, intermediate, and long-distance routes, and greatly improves the operational efficiency. The vessel fully meets the EEDI Phase III standard and the latest environmental requirements of the IMO.
“LNG GENEVA” is the fifth LNG carrier delivered by Hudong-Zhonghua this year. According to the production plan, the sixth LNG carrier will be completed and delivered next month, which is expected to set a new record of delivering six LNG carriers in one year, and continue to consolidate China’s position as the leading builder of large LNG carriers.
Hudong-Zhonghua has pressed the “fast-forward button” for the construction of large-scale LNG carriers and accelerated the pace of construction in 2023, which is the opening year of Hudong-Zhonghua’s strategy of doubling its LNG production capacity.
Meanwhile, good news also comes from time to time in its core supporting field. on November 8, the company’s LNG carrier industry capacity enhancement project – the new invar production workshop was completed and put into operation, thus forming a new advantage of centralized production of LNG ship insulation box, invar prefabricated parts, cryogenic pipe modules and other special supporting industries, further strengthening the foundation for doubling the LNG production capacity. The foundation of doubling LNG production capacity is further strengthened.