Ordered and to be operated by the Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat), Mozah, the first “Q-Max”-sized vessel with a capacity for 266,000 cubic-metres of LNG, will carry almost eighty per cent more cargo than conventional ships.
It is the world’s largest LNG vessel and was named at Samsung Heavy Industry’s (SHI) massive shipyard on Geoje Island, South Korea before delivery to Lloyd’s Register Class. The new model is expected to spearhead long haul gas shipping to the United States and Europe as the industrialised world continues its search for cleaner energy products.
“We are very proud to have been involved in the design and construction of these revolutionary new vessels, which are destined to make a cleaner form of energy available to more of the world’s consumers,” David Moorhouse, Chairman of the Lloyd’s Register Group, said at the naming ceremony. Lloyd’s will classify nine of the first 10 Q-Max LNG vessels – including this first one.
The Q-Max model
The Q-Max model – “Q” for Qatar and “Max” for the maximum size of ship able to dock at the LNG terminals in Qatar – features slow-speed diesel engines that are more fuel- and thermally efficient than steam turbines, resulting in about a thirty per cent reduction in overall emissions. In short, they represent a cleaner way to safely transport cleaner energy. The improved economies of scale inherent in the much larger comparative load capacity are also expected to reduce shipping costs – which typically have accounted for about one-third of the price for LNG; by about thirty per cent.
Andy Richardson, Shipping Project Manager for the Qatargas Operating Company Ltd., said that improving the industry’s strong performance record for safety, quality, operability and maintainability was at the forefront of his team’s thinking throughout the conception, design and construction stages for the innovative vessels, and their smaller “Q-Flex” sister-ships, which were previously the world’s largest.
“The adoption of new technology after rigorous qualification processes allowed significant economies of scale to be achieved,” Richardson said. “Redundant, highly efficient propulsion systems and on board re-liquefaction have realised operational efficiencies and a reduction in emissions.”
Lloyd’s Leading Classification Society for LNG Vessels
Lloyd’s Register is the world’s leading classification society for LNG vessels with 39 per cent of the existing fleet under its class, a proportion that is destined to grow with the delivery of the new Q-Maxes in the next two years.
In all, 14 Q-Max and 31 Q-Flex-sized LNG ships have been ordered from the big three Korean shipbuilders by Qatari interests and their partners, 17 of which will be built to Lloyd’s Register class.
Source: https://www.lr.org/News+and+Events/Qatargas+and+Nakilat+name+world%E2%80%99s+biggest+LNG+vessel+at+Samsung+before+delivery+to+Lloyd%E2%80%99s+Register.htm[Lloyd’s Register]
