Qatargas and Nakilat name world’s biggest LNG vessel at Samsung before delivery to Lloyd’s Register Class

International gas shipping entered a new era today when the world’s largest LNG vessel — classed by Lloyd’s Register — was named in front of a huge crowd of dignitaries at Samsung Heavy Industry’s (SHI) massive shipyard on Geoje Island, South Korea.

Ordered and to be operated by the Qatar Gas Transport Company (Nakilat), Mozah, the first “Q-Max”-sized vessel with a capacity for 266,000 cubic-metres of LNG, will carry almost 80 per cent more cargo than conventional ships. These new models are expected to spearhead long haul gas shipping to the United States and Europe as the industrialised world continues its search for cleaner energy products.

“We are very proud to have been involved in the design and construction of these revolutionary new vessels, which are destined to make a cleaner form of energy available to more of the world’s consumers,” David Moorhouse, Chairman of the Lloyd’s Register Group, said at the naming ceremony today. “As the classification society of choice for nine of the first 10 Q-Max LNG vessels – including the very first — this project further enhances Lloyd’s Register’s reputation as a technology leader in this important and growing sector.”

The Q-Max model – “Q” for Qatar and “Max” for the maximum size of ship able to dock at the LNG terminals in Qatar – features slow-speed diesel engines that are more fuel- and thermally efficient than steam turbines, resulting in about a 30% reduction in overall emissions. In short, they represent a cleaner way to safely transport cleaner energy.

The improved economies of scale inherent in the much larger comparative load capacity also are expected to reduce shipping costs – which typically have accounted for about one-third of the price for LNG — by about 30%.

Andy Richardson, Shipping Project Manager for the Qatargas Operating Company Ltd., said that improving the industry’s strong performance record for safety, quality, operability and maintainability was at the forefront of his team’s thinking throughout the conception, design and construction stages for these innovative vessels, and their smaller “Q-Flex” sister-ships, which were previously the world’s largest.

“The adoption of new technology after rigorous qualification processes allowed significant economies of scale to be achieved,” Mr Richardson said. “Redundant, highly efficient propulsion systems and onboard re-liquefaction have realised operational efficiencies and a reduction in emissions. We believe these changes will provide meaningful benefits to all within the customer supplier chain, forever changing the traditional paradigm of LNG transportation.”

“With 45 of these new generation vessels contracted for delivery from the three leading Korean yards, co-operation and team work has been an essential ingredient for success,” he said. “We have valued the continuous support of Lloyd’s Register in meeting the challenges we set, and I am extremely proud of what has been achieved.”

Lloyd’s Register is the world’s leading classification society for LNG vessels with 39% of the existing fleet under its class, a proportion that is destined to grow with the delivery of the new Q-Maxes in the next two years.

In all, 14 Q-Max and 31 Q-Flex-sized LNG ships have been ordered from the big three Korean shipbuilders by Qatari interests and their partners, 17 of which will be built to Lloyd’s Register class.

As a tribute to the contribution that Lloyd’s Register has made to the development of the Q-Max and Q-Flex ships, SHI on Thursday presented Chairman Moorhouse with an almost two-metre long scale model of the Mozah