LNG breakthrough for Wärtsilä in China

The contract represents a breakthrough in China for Wärtsilä’s reliquefaction and gas handling equipment for LNG carriers. The ships are owned by Teekay Corporation, China LNG Shipping, CNOOC Energy Technology Co and BW Gas.

Reliquefaction plants will reliquefy 70% of the boil-off gas from the ships’ LNG cargo and return it to cargo tanks, with the remainder fed to the engines by the gas handling system. The system is pre-fabricated in skid modules for easy onboard installation. It can be stopped when the cargo pumps are in use, reducing the need for extra generator capacity.

Wärtsilä will provide engineering support, system responsibility and associated process guarantees. The first of the 174,000m3 LNG carriers is scheduled for delivery in September 2017, with two to follow in 2018 and the last due in January 2019.

Wärtsilä has 35 LNG cargo handling systems already in operation, with a further eight on order for customers in China, South Korea and Japan.