Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy delivers LNG carrier Enshu Maru

Japan’s Kawasaki Heavy Industries on Friday delivered the 164,700-cbm liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier Enshu Maru to Trans Pacific Shipping 4, a joint venture consisting of K Line and Tokyo Century.

As previously reported, the vessel that is powered by a reheat steam turbine will be chartered by Japan’s LNG importing giant JERA.

The 293m-long vessel is expected to mainly serve the transportation route between the Freeport LNG export project in the US and Japan.

It is the third of Kawasaki’s line of 164,700-cbm capacity LNG carriers to go live. The LNG carrier is designed to enable passage through the newly expanded Panama Canal, which opened for full operations in 2016.

The vessel features standard LNG carrier hull dimensions in order to enable docking at major LNG terminals around the world while offering larger cargo tanks for increased transport capacity.

In addition, Kawasaki has made hull structure improvements to decrease overall ship weight and achieved a more optimal below-waterline hull design to fully optimize propulsive performance, the shipbuilder said.