Mitsubishi christens Freeport LNG dedicated tanker

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding christened the liquefied natural gas carrier under construction for a joint venture of JERA and Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line).

The new ship, named Bushu Maru is the Sayaringo STaGE type, featuring significant improvements in both LNG carrying capacity and fuel performance due to the adoption of a more efficient hull structure and an innovative hybrid propulsion system.

Completion and delivery is scheduled for June 2019, after which the Bushu Maru will be put into service transporting LNG for the Freeport LNG project in the U.S. state of Texas, in which JERA is participating, among other ventures, the shipbuilder said in a statement.

The Bushu Maru has a length of 297.5 meters, the width of 48.94 meters, and a depth of 27 meters, with a draft of 11.5 meters.

The vessel being built by the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) unit has a total tank holding capacity of 180,000 cubic meters. Launching took place on December 14, 2017.

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding received the order for the new vessel from the owner through MI LNG Company, a joint venture for the design and sale of LNG carriers established by MHI and Imabari Shipbuilding.

Construction was managed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Marine Structure, an MHI Group company based in Nagasaki.

The Sayaringo STaGE is a successor to the Sayaendo, a vessel highly acclaimed for its reliability and innovatively refined MOSS-type spherical tanks. The use of apple-shaped tanks allows for greater LNG carrying capacity without increasing the ship’s width, while the hybrid propulsion system further improves fuel efficiency over the previous model.

STaGE, an acronym derived from Steam Turbine and Gas Engines, is a hybrid propulsion system combining a steam turbine and gas-fired engines. Effective utilization of waste heat from the engines for the steam turbine provides a substantial improvement in plant efficiency, allowing for high-efficiency navigation at both low and high-speeds, MHI said.