Singapore-based LNG tech firm LNT Marine has joined forces with a Chinese duo to develop a design for a 40,000-cbm mid-size LNG carrier.
The tech company said on Monday it signed a cooperation deal with Wuhu Shipyard and Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute.
The design named WuhuMax is a shallow-draft LNG carrier. The vessels will be suitable to trade along China’s Yangtze river with limited air and water draught.
It will feature the LNT A-Box containment system deployed for the first time this year by LNT’s sister company Saga LNG.
To remind, Saga LNG’s first mid-size carrier featuring the system, Saga Dawn, completed its maiden voyage in April.
The vessel delivered a cargo from Singapore’s Jurong Island LNG facility to JOVO’s Dongguan terminal in China.
Saga Dawn is the world’s first LNG carrier featuring an IMO type A containment system, based on LNT’s design.
China Merchants Heavy Industry’s Jiangsu yard built the ABS-classed vessel featuring Wartsila’s dual-fuel main and auxiliary engines.
Saga LNG has already obtained approvals in principle for two shallow draft designs aimed at opening up trade along Yangtze.
The company is also developing an 80,000-cbm design with a nine-meter draft aimed at regional imports into Chinese terminals.
Saga LNG and LNT are both backed by the Shanghai-based Landmark Capital.
Saga LNG’s CEO and LNT chairman Dawid Wu founded the investment firm along with its partners from Norway.