LNG RIVERS First Korean export of a LNG carrier

LNG carriers have probably been the biggest boom category in shipbuilding over the past year as demand for gas increases in line with power utilities switch to cleaner forms of energy production. European yards are now bidding for business in the sector, but their inattention to it when cruise business was at its peak may well have weakened their relative competitive position irreversibly. During the cruise peak of the late 1990s Korean yards won their first orders for LNG carriers from overseas customers, joining Japanese yards as serious competition in the sector to European builders. In June 2002 the first of these export orders came to a conclusion with the delivery of LNG Rivers by Ulsan-based Hyundai Heavy Industries to Bonny Gas Transport of Nigeria. The ship, with a 137,000m3 capacity, is also the largest Moss-type vessel yet built, although there have been larger capacity membrane-type ships. Hyundai may have been first to deliver but two other Korean yards – Daewoo, now the most prolific LNG carrier builder, and Samsung – have also won export LNG carrier orders. The experience gained building LNG Rivers and other export LNG carriers by Korean yards will make it very difficult for European yards to stage a major comeback in the sector. LNG Rivers was featured in the October 2002 edition of The Motor Ship.