We are pleased to announce that the shipbuilding contract for five 85,000cbm Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs) between JHW Engineering & Contracting (JHW) and Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Offshore (DSIC Offshore) entered into force at the beginning of this month, after the contract signing on 11th of Dec, 2015. These VLECs will be equipped with FOUR cargo tanks, three of which are IMO Type C Star-trilobe tanks, MAN Dual-fuel engines and MAN Alpha Propellers. The carriers are expected to create several “FISRT TIMEs” as follows:
- FIRST TIME to apply the semi refrigerated solution to very large gas carriers;
- FIRST TIME for a gas carrier with Type C tanks can reach 85,000cbm;
- FISRT TIME for single Type C tank can reach more than 23,000cbm;
- FIRST TIME to choose Chinese shipyard to build VLEC.
After delivery, these VLECs will be available for trade on the growing ethane export market from USA to China. The first VLEC will be delivered by the end of first quarter in 2018.
