Malaysia’s MISC said its first very large ethane carrier has completed what it says is the biggest delivery in the history of ethane shipping.
The shipping firm’s Seri Everest completed its first cargo discharge at Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical’s Lianyungang ethane plant in China’s Jiangsu on January 28.
During the loading operation managed by Eaglestar, it delivered more than 51,000 MT of ethane at the plant, according to MISC.
Prior to the delivery in China, the vessel loaded the cargo at Orbit’s new export facilities in Nederland, Texas. Energy Transfer and Satellite Petrochemical USA own the Nederland terminal where Seri Everest completed the maiden call.
Both the loading and discharge mark the largest in the history of ethane shipping to date, MISC claims.
MISC took delivery of Seri Everest in October 2020, followed by its sister vessel Seri Erlang, in January this year. The shipping firm’s second VLEC is currently on its maiden voyage to the US.
The Malaysian shipping firm expects to take delivery of the remaining four VLECs within the first half of 2021. They will all go on a charter to Zhejiang Satellite for a period of 15 years.
Upon delivery of all the VLECs, MISC says it would become the largest transporter of ethane in the world.
Moreover, the 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.