LNG CARRIER FOR EXPANDING SPANISH TRADE

Entrusted to the Madrid-based subsidiary of Norway’s Knutsen OAS Shipping, the 299-metre gas tanker will initially be engaged in the shipment of LNG from Cheniere Energy’s Corpus Christi terminal in Texas to Spain. She is scheduled to discharge her first cargo in Barcelona towards the end of August.

Adriano Knutsen is the first of a trio contracted at Hyundai Heavy Industries, and commanded a construction cost of US$185m. The specification included ME-GI dual-fuel, two-stroke engines developed by MAN Energy Solutions and Mark III Flex membrane containment technology licensed by French cryogenic engineering specialist GTT. The vessel is the largest merchant ship sailing under the Spanish flag and her cargo intake is said to equate to a single day’s demand from the whole of Spain.

Although the ME-GI propulsion machinery offers the flexibility to burn low-sulphur fuel oil, the intention is to run predominantly on natural gas. The ship’s two engines are five-cylinder models of the G70ME-GI type, capable of running directly on cargo boil-off gas. The thermodynamics are based on the Diesel principle rather than the Otto cycle, and the design is reckoned to incur negligible methane slip as well as yielding increased efficiency across the operating profile. The installation incorporates exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) so as to ensure compliance with NOx emission criteria when fuel oil is used.

The Mark III Flex containment and insulation system employed for the four cargo tanks limits the boil-off rate(BOR) to between 0.1% and 0.085% per day, according to GTT. Directly supported by the ship’s hull structure, the system is composed of a primary corrugated stainless steel membrane, positioned on top of prefabricated insulation panels, including a complete, secondary membrane made of composite material. The 48-metre hull breadth is testament to the design’s dimensioning for the new locks on the Panama Canal.

The vessel is the subject of a seven-year charter agreement with Endesa, the largest electric utility in Spain and which is 70%-owned by ENEL of Italy. The charter deal includes options on extensions for seven and six years, respectively, to help cover LNG purchases entered into by both Endesa and ENEL. The newbuild’s immediate allocation to the import traffic from the USA reflects Endesa’s contract with Cheniere Energy for the supply from Corpus Christi Liquefaction of two billion cubic metres of LNG per annum over 20 years.

Entered into the Canary Islands register, Adriano Knutsen has a complement of 26, comprising Spanish officers and cadets and Filipino ratings. Second-of-class Rias Baixas Knutsen is fitting out at HHI’s Ulsan yard, where the keel of the third ship, Traiano Knutsen, was laid earlier this year with a view to completion during mid-2020 and charter deployment with the ENEL Group.

PRINCIPAL PARTICULARS – Adriano Knutsen