Newly approved gas carrier ships carry 57 percent more

The world's largest liquefied natural gas carrier, with a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters, received approval in principle (AiP) certificates from four major classification societies on Tuesday, according to the vessel's developer.

The ultra large LNG carrier, designed by China State Shipbuilding Corp's (CSSC) Shanghai-based subsidiary Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co Ltd, was granted AiP from American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), Lloyd's Register (LR), Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and Bureau Veritas (BV) in Singapore at the Gastech 2023.

The 344-meter-long and 53.6- meter-wide ship is the largest LNG carrier developed and designed in the world so far, indicated that Chinese shipbuilders' research, development, design and construction is entering into a new phase, a big leap of China's shipbuilding capabilities, according to Hudong-Zhonghua.

Compared with the conventional LNG vessels with a capacity of 174,000 cubic meters, the new LNG's capacity is expanded by 57 percent, and it is capable of transporting 155 million cubic meters of natural gas, equaling the monthly consumption of 4.7 million families in Shanghai.