The keel of the first of nine Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) carriers ordered by Teekay Corporation has been laid at South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd, Teekay said.
Teekay signed up for six 170,000-cbm Arc7 vessels and Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), in partnership with China Shipping LNG, has three vessels on order from the batch. The ships are said to be priced at around USD 316 million each totaling in USD 2.8 billion overall.
The ships will feature Electronically Controlled, Gas Injection (MEGI) twin engine and are intended to serve the Yamal LNG Project, which is located on the Yamal Peninsula in Northern Russia.
According to Teekay LNG, the scaffolding is installed temporarily for the assembly of the cargo containment system, comprising around 60,000 insulation blocks per ship.
The vessels are among the largest LNG carriers that will be able to transit the Panama Canal after its expansion is complete.
The first vessel from the batch is scheduled for delivery in 2016, the final one joining the fleet in 2019.
Yamal LNG, a joint venture between Russia-based Novatek (60 percent), France-based Total (20 percent) and China-based China National Petroleum Corporation ( CNPC ) (20 percent), will consist of three LNG trains with a total expected capacity of 16.5 million metric tons of LNG per year and is currently scheduled to start-up in early-2018.
The project’s first commercial cargo is due to be shipped in 2017. The chosen route for the LNG cargo is the Northern Sea Route (NSR).
World Maritime News Staff; Images: Teekay Corporation