The first traditional ‘Moss-type’ LNG carrier, YK Sovereign, has arrived at the Port of Gladstone marking the Gladstone LNG (GLNG) facility’s 25th cargo since October 2015.
Built in 1994, the South Korean flagged YK Sovereign is 274m long with a deadweight tonnage of 72,020 tonnes.
Most LNG carriers can be identified by two distinct types of tank construction – the ‘Moss-type’ with spherical tanks, and the membrane-type with the tanks built into the ship.
The first LNG carrier with spherical tanks, the Kvaerner-Moss System, was the Norman Lady launched in Stavanger, Norway in 1973.
The membrane-type ships were developed during the 1960s, and use a thin flexible metal ‘membrane’ that is in contact with the ship’s cargo.
Until 2000, 54 per cent of all LNG carriers were spherical, primarily because Japanese shipyards had a license for the construction of this type of ship only.
Currently, ships with membrane tanks have outnumbered the traditional spherical or ‘Moss-type’ LNG carriers.
The YK Sovereign departed the Port of Gladstone on 16 April 2016 bound for Korea.
The three LNG plants on Curtis Island will continue to ramp-up their production in 2016 and will add over 25 million tonnes of trade through the Port of Gladstone each year.
