Kawasaki Heavy supersizes hydrogen carrier designs with 160,000 cu m breakthrough

Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) is developing a large, 160,000 cu m liquefied hydrogen carrier using four cargo containment system (CCS) tanks, which is scheduled to start commercial operations by the middle of the 2020s.

The Japanese shipbuilder has obtainment approval in principle (AIP) from Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) for the CCS offering the world’s largest capacity of 40,000 cu m class per tank used in liquefied hydrogen marine transport.

The CCS for which the AiP was obtained is designed to contain cryogenic liquefied hydrogen, reduced to a temperature of –253°C and one eight-hundredth its initial volume, for shipping by sea in large amounts.

The CCS was developed using design, construction and technologies fostered through building of the Suiso Frontier a pioneering liquefied hydrogen carrier built by Kawasaki Heavy that boasts a 1,250 cu m carrying capacity.

Earlier this year, Kawasaki Heavy officials in Tokyo told Splash Extra that the company was working on creating larger capacity designs, with further newbuilds anticipated next year once the Suiso Frontier has had 12 months of operations behind it.