Classification society Bureau Veritas said on Tuesday it has issued a broad swathe of approvals to France’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) containment specialist GTT.
Bureau Veritas experts have been working with GTT to approve two new containment systems: the Mark III Flex+, an evolution of the Mark III but with a lower boil-off rate (BOR), and the GTT MARS, a containment system developed for LPG carriers that is adaptable to any size of tank or ship, according to a Bureau Veritas statement.
Approval in Principle (AiP) has been provided for a 6,500-cbm bunker barge, jointly developed between DSEC and GTT, and the AiP for the design of an 180,000-cbm LNG carrier is being finalized, Bureau Veritas said.
Additional AiPs have been granted for a solution for vapour pocket management allowing LNG carriers, in compliance with the revised IGC Code, to operate with an increased filling limit (above 98%), GTT’s NO96 pressurization system evolution to provide enhanced maintenance flexibility and safety, reduced cooling down features of both the NO96 and Mark III systems to improve cargo operations.
“These approvals are helping GTT expand the range and depth of their technologies. The increasing sophistication of containment systems and expansion of their application – as in CMA CGM’s breakthrough order for large containerships with membrane tanks – is driving the adoption and development of gas transportation and LNG as a marine fuel as well supporting the marine gas trades,” Matthieu de Tugny , COO, Bureau Veritas Marine & Offshore said.