Japanese NYK Line, Kansai to Jointly Own LNG Vessel

Japanese NYK Line has agreed to joint ownership of an LNG carrier with Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power through a vessel-owner company shared by the two companies. NYK will have 30% share while Kansai Electric will own the remaining 70%.  

The vessel, with a tank capacity of 177,000 m³, is being built at the Sakaide shipyard of Kawasaki Heavy Industries and is expected to be complete in late 2017. It will be assigned to the Cove Point LNG project in the US to transport LNG for 20 years, NYK said December 14.

The new ship will be equipped with a dual-fuel diesel electric propulsion engine. The vessel suppresses the boil-off rate of the LNG in the cargo tank to 0.08% of tank volume per day, the world’s lowest level, the Japanese firm said.

Kansai Electric has an agreement with Sumitomo to buy 0.8mn mt/yr of LNG from the Cove Point project. 

Shardul Sharma