On August 18, China State Shipbuilding Corporation’s Jiangnan Shipyard signed the delivery contract for the 99,000m³ Very Large Ethane Carrier (VLEC) “GAS ORCHID” built for Southwest Shipping.
This VLEC was independently developed and built by Jiangnan Shipyard, using Jiangnan’s independently developed B-type cargo containment system (BrillianceE®). It is the world’s largest VLEC in terms of cargo capacity, and its comprehensive technical indicators have been appraised as being at the international leading level.
The “GAS ORCHID” has a total length of 230 meters, a beam of 36.6 meters, and a draft of 22.5 meters. It is designed for the transportation of various liquefied industrial and energy gases, including ethane, ethylene and LPG. It is the optimal vessel specifically tailored for long-distance ethane transportation in the United States and is universally compatible with major LPG terminals worldwide.
This VLEC boasts advantages such as low fuel (gas) consumption, low boil-off rate (BOR), no liquid level loading restrictions and low maintenance costs, resulting in significant economic benefits. It is the first to be equipped with an “ethane” dual-fuel main engine, shaft-driven generator, and various energy-saving systems, leading the way in the “low-carbon” transformation and development of high-end vessels in the shipping industry.
On the same day, Jiangnan Shipyard kicked off construction of the first 50,000m³ medium-sized liquefied petroleum gas/liquid ammonia carrier (MGC) for Vietnamese shipowner Asia Pacific Shipping Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as ASP). This series of vessels marks ASP’s first domestic liquefied gas carrier construction project and signifies an important step forward for Jiangnan Shipyard in expanding into Southeast Asia.
This vessel embodies the principles of “energy efficiency, environmental protection, and intelligence,” representing Jiangnan Shipyard’s latest independently developed medium-sized fully refrigerated liquefied gas carrier (Panda 50P). As an upgraded successor to the 40,000m³ MGC, this vessel increases cargo capacity by 10,000m³ while achieving further improvements in speed performance and energy consumption metrics through hull form development and overall layout optimization, thereby enhancing market competitiveness.
Based on the concept of integrated product development (IPD), the R&D team of Jiangnan Shipyard has prepared solutions in ammonia fuel, onboard carbon capture and storage (OCCS), intelligent ships (JNIS), etc., laying the foundation for subsequent shipowners to choose diverse actual ship applications.
Asia Pacific Shipping is a privately-ownedVi etnamese shipowner established in 2021. Initially, its core business focused on bulk carriers and tankers. As its capabilities grew, the company began expanding its operations in 2024, expanding into chemical and liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers. The 50K MGC project marks the shipowner’s first foray into the LNG newbuilding business and lays a solid foundation for the partnership.