Houston-based classification society American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has been selected to class two 174,000 cbm LNG carriers currently under construction for South Korea’s SK Shipping and chartered out to Korea Gas Corporation (Kogas) .
The agreement brings the number of LNG carriers to be built to joint ABS/KR class for Kogas to five .
The two LNG carriers will be built at the Samsung Heavy Industries yard in South Korea, and will feature the KC-1 cargo containment system (CCS) developed by Kogas.
Additional three 174,000 cbm LNG carriers, two for Korea Line Corporation and one for Hyundai LNG Shipping, will be built at Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.
The ships will be used to transport shale gas from the Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass port in the U.S.A. to South Korea beginning in 2017.
“ABS has a long association with South Korea’s shipowners and shipbuilders and has supported them as they push the development of ships and systems to new levels of innovation and efficiency,” said ABS Chairman, President and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki.
“The award of these five class contracts confirms our position as a trusted partner to South Korea’s leading maritime and shipbuilding companies.”
Kogas developed the KC-1 CCS in a seven-year joint development project with shipyards Hyundai, Samsung and Daewoo. The primary concept of the KC-1 system is to minimize the impact of primary barrier deformation on the insulation system from the hull. The system uses 1.5 mm corrugated stainless steel membrane as the primary and secondary barriers, and polyurethane foam with a density of 115 kg/m3 as the insulating material, an arrangement normally used in shore-based storage.
ABS issued an Extended Approval in Principal and General Design Approval for the system in 2014.
“ABS worked with Kogas toward design approval of the KC-1 containment concept for almost a decade, and we are delighted to have received the award of class for the first ships that will feature the system,” said ABS Vice President of Global Korea Business Development Dr. Hoseong Lee.
“As global gas demand grows and industry continues to seek new techniques for its safe transportation, ABS will continue to play a leading technology role.”