BP Receives First of Six New Design Tankers

UK major BP has taken delivery of the British Partner, its first of six new, 173,400 m³ LNG tankers, the Partnership class, it said July 18 – the largest it has ever owned or operated. BP says it is 25% more efficient than previous tankers built for it and able to navigate the expanded Panama Canal and the most challenging ports.

BP said it is set to increase its LNG supply significantly over the next four years thanks, largely, to new projects in the US and offshore Mozambique. The new Partnership class ships will give the necessary capacity to transport those extra volumes around the world, it said. 

Like other modern tankers, it will have reliquefaction capacity so that boil-off is returned to the cargo tanks or compressed and used as fuel; and it will have a top speed of 20 knots (roughly 37km/hr).

Unlike the older vessels in the BP fleet that they are replacing, they have an exhaust gas recirculation system that reduces nitrogen oxide emissions and a gas combustion system on board that minimises the potential for releasing methane to the atmosphere.

However these environmental benefits have commercial advantages too: BP's LNG business has grown by 30% in the past year but margins are eroding. To be competitive, therefore, the new LNG carriers have to be cost-effective. BP said: “Profit margins are dropping off as the big trading houses start to get involved in LNG for the first time.  The size and greater efficiency of the Partnership class tankers help significantly in this respect, as larger cargoes can be transported at significantly lower unit costs than previously." 

The vessels are being built in South Korea by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME). The banner photo shows British Partner (centre), and is courtesy of BP.

Although far smaller than the Q-Max ships built to deliver Qatari volumes around the world, which can carry up to 267,000 m³ , ships of 170,000 m³ to 180,000 m³ have become the norm for newbuild LNG tankers because they are flexible enough to navigate the enlarged Panama Canal.