Japan’s Inpex said Friday that a naming ceremony was held for the LNG tanker that will supply liquefied natural gas from the giant Ichthys project in Australia to Taiwan’s CPC Corporation.
The ceremony took place at Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ (KHI) Sakaide Works in Kagawa Prefecture, Japan where construction of the LNG tanker was recently completed.
The LNG tanker named Pacific Breeze will transport 1.75 million tons of Ichthys-produced LNG per year allocated to CPC under a sales and purchase deal signed in 2012.
The vessel was built based on a construction agreement between Pacific Breeze LNG Transport, a subsidiary of K-Line as the owner, and KHI, and is scheduled to be deployed in conjunction with the production startup of the Ichthys LNG project.
The Japanese company has through its subsidiary Inpex Shipping Co jointly established IT Marine Transport on May 8, 2013 with Total Marine Transport, a subsidiary of Ichthys LNG project partner Total, where Inpex holds 68.77% stake and Total has the rest.
Through ITMT, Inpex has entered into a time charter agreement for this LNG tanker with Pacific Breeze LNG Transport.
The LNG tanker is approximately 300 meters in length with a beam of approximately 52 meters.
Inpex claims it is the world’s first MOSS-type LNG tanker to adopt an electric propulsion system that features a diesel engine fueled by both natural gas and bunker fuel and provides high fuel efficiency.
The tanker’s 182,000-cubic meter tank capacity is one of the world’s largest among MOSS-type LNG tankers.
In addition to this tanker, Inpex is awaiting the delivery of another vessel that will transport LNG from its Ichthys LNG export project.
Inpex has through Oceanic Breeze LNG Transport, a joint venture with K-Line, a 30 percent stake in the vessel while K-line holds 70 percent.
The vessel will transport Inpex’s own LNG offtake from the Ichthys project or 0.9 million tons per year to the company’s Naoetsu LNG terminal in Japan.
The tanker is currently undergoing the final stages of construction work at MHI’s Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works in Japan.
The Ichthys LNG project is expected to produce up to 8.9 million tonnes of LNG per annum and 1.65 million tonnes of LPG per annum, along with approximately 100,000 barrels of condensate per day at peak.
Source: LNG World News