Svanehøj wins major Samsung Heavy Industries VLEC pump order

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Samsung Heavy Industries ordered 42 pumps for 3 new Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLEC) from SVANEHØJ. (Credit: SVANEHØJ)

The ships have been ordered by the Chinese company Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical and will be used to carry liquid ethane from Texas, USA, to the company’s petrochemical terminal in Lianyungang, China.

Svanehøj has previously supplied pump systems for ships that transport ethane, but not for ships as large as the VLECs. It has successfully modified its existing LNG fuel pumps, which minimise their impact on boil-off gas generation, to operate with other fuel types such as ethane.

“Some 3-4 years ago we predicted that there would be opportunities in this area as the international demand for ethane for the production of plastics has risen. Together with our French partner, GTT, we have worked to develop solutions specifically for these VLECs, and we are now beginning to see the results,” said Sales Director Hans Høyer Jensen from Svanehøj.

Projections show that almost a third of ships in 2030 will sail on ethane or natural gas. So we definitely expect many more people to start looking in our direction when they need to build ships that meet the new requirements. It is a potentially massive market for us which we are already in the process of supplying,” concluded Hans Høyer Jensen.