Malaysia’s MISC has taken delivery of a very large ethane carrier from South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries.
Seri Erlang is the second of the six contracted sister VLECs, purpose-built for long-term charter to China’s Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical.
Moreover, the vessel will join Seri Everest to transport ethane from US to China to support STL’s ethane cracker facility.
MISC’s unit Eaglestar Shipmanagement Gas manages both of the carriers.
With more than 98,000 cbm of capacity, the newbuild has a reliquefaction unit and a high-pressure ethane fuel supply system.
Furthermore, the vessel’s propulsion includes a MAN B&W gas injection ethane engine, complemented with a pump vaporiser unit.
Built with a containment system for dual cargo loading, Seri Erlang also features ABS LNG-ready notation. This means the VLEC can be upgraded to trade liquefied natural gas cargoes in the future.
MISC expects the four remaining sister vessels to join throughout the first half of this year.
Upon delivery of all the VLECs, MISC says it would become the largest transporter of ethane in the world.
The Malaysian shipping firm owned by energy giant Petronas is already one of the largest operators of LNG carriers. The firm operates a fleet of 29 LNG carriers and two floating storage units.