Spanish Gabadi Forms Chinese LNG Joint Venture
Spanish Gabadi has formed a joint venture, Gabadi Marine Engineering (Shanghai), with local partner AojiHeng Offshore Engineering, which will see it enter the Chinese LNG retail shipping market and develop gas fuelled ships with Chinese shipyards, it said June 9.
Gabadi is the first membrane tank outfitter licensed by engineering company GTT. Chinese AojiHeng is already present in the shipbuilding industry, and focused on shipbuilding and promoting LNG as marine fuel.
Demand for LNG fuelled ships is growing globally as the shipping industry is actively looking at solutions to meet more stringent regulatory requirements such as the announcement by the International Maritime Organization to cap the sulphur content of marine fuel at 0.5% from 2020.
In April, Singapore launched its first technical framework for LNG bunkering.
Meanwhile, GTT said in a separate statement issued June 8 said it has received an order from Samsung Heavy Industries to equip a new FLNG unit that will operate off the cost of Mozambique. This new FLNG unit will integrate eight LNG tanks equipped with the Mark III membrane containment system.
Shardul Sharma