Shipping gets a new ship type with the introduction of the ultra large ethane carrier
GTT, the French gas containment system manufacturer, has shown off a supersized ethane carrier it has developed with South Korean shipyard, Samsung Heavy Industries.
The record-breaking design is 50% bigger than today’s largest ethane carriers afloat and ushers in a new acronym for shipping.
The new ultra large ethane carrier (ULEC) can carry up to 150,000 cu m of liquid ethane in one ship compared to today’s largest carriers which can carry 98,000 cu m.
The ULEC is also designed to be dual cargo from the beginning: shipping liquid ethane gas (LEG)
and liquid natural gas (LNG).
“This new generation of vessels offers at least 20%/t chartering cost reduction and a better Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI),” GTT claimed in a release.