South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries has contracted France’s GTT to design tanks for four LNG-powered containerships.
GTT said in a statement on Thursday that the four vessels would have fuel tanks fitted with the company’s Mark III Flex membrane containment technology.
The LNG tank specialist did not reveal the owner or the capacity of the vessels but it said that this order, won in March, is for mid-size container vessels.
Also, the delivery of these six vessels would take place between the second and fourth quarter of 2024, GTT said.
Additional services
In addition to the engineering services and technical assistance at the shipyard, GTT said it would assist the operator through every step of the LNG-fueled project.
This includes commissioning of the LNG tank, first bunkering operations, as well as further specific operations and maintenance of the vessels.
Moreover, GTT will provide training for the crews, supported by its proprietary G-Sim training simulator, which replicates the future LNG operations of the vessels, but it will also offer its HEARS emergency response service with 24/7 technical assistance.
GTT added it would fit these vessels with its “GTT Digital” platform, a “smart shipping” solution to monitor and optimize the operational performance of the vessels and further reduce their energy consumption and environmental footprint.
CMA CGM ships
This order could be related to an announcement SHI issued on March 14.
The shipbuilder said in that statement it would build four LNG-dual containerships for an owner based in Europe for about $494 million.
SHI added it would deliver the ships by December 2024 but it did not reveal any additional information regarding the contract.
According to VesselValue, French giant CMA CGM ordered these four 7,000-teu LNG-powered containerships.
CMA CGM is one of the world’s biggest backers of LNG as fuel and previously said its fleet would grow to at least 44 vessels by the end of 2024.