French technological containment specialist Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT) has received an order from Chinese shipbuilder Hudong-Zhonghua, a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), for the tank design of six new very large liquefied natural gas carriers (LNGCs).
Each of the six vessels will have a capacity of 271,000 cubic meters and feature GTT’s NO96 Super+ membrane containment system. The vessels are scheduled to be delivered in Q2 2028, Q2 and Q3 2029, and Q1 and Q3 2031.
The Chinese player previously hired GTT to design the tanks of 10 LNGCs of the same capacity in June 2024 . These vessels were deemed to be the world’s largest in September 2023.
According to the French firm, the NO96 Super+technology consists of inserting reinforced polyurethane foam (R-PUF) panels instead of plywood boxes to reduce the heat ingress inside the tank. Glass wool flat joints are inserted between neighboring foam panels to optimize thermal performance.
GTT claims the system offers a guaranteed boil-off rate (BOR) of 0,085% V/d for the current standard size design of an LNG carrier of 174,000 cbm. Larger vessels, such as the ones with 200,000-cbm tanks, can achieve further reductions down to 0,08% V/d thanks to scale effects.
In October 2024, the French firm’s 200,000-cbm LNG carrier concept won approval in principle (AiP) from Lloyd’s Register. The classification society shared the rationale behind granting the approval two months later .