LNG ship enters new development opportunity period

At present, international oil prices are still at high prices, countries have turned their energy consumption to natural gas, and many countries are preparing to import large quantities of natural gas. As a result, the demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessels, a means of transporting natural gas, will increase significantly and will increase further in the future.

In the past, LNG production and ocean transportation generally increased at an average annual rate of 6.5%. In recent years, this growth rate has risen to about 9%. According to incomplete statistics, global LNG ship orders increased by 57% in the first half of this year. The construction price of a 147,000 cubic meter LNG ship increased from US$205 million to US$217 million, an increase of 5.8%. In the next few years, the annual consumption demand for LNG will reach 435 million tons to 440 million tons, which is about three times the current annual consumption demand of 140 million tons.

According to the survey report on the LNG ship market, over the past three years, the world's investment in LNG ships and supporting facilities has reached $17.5 billion, and the investment size next year is expected to reach $22.7 billion.

According to the survey report of the world LNG shipping market, there are only 196 LNG ships that have been put into shipping routes around the world, and LNG ships with a capacity of more than 100,000 cubic meters are a minority. US LNG imports will continue to expand, and LNG imports from European countries will also grow rapidly, which will certainly promote the market demand for LNG carriers. Japanese merchant ship Mitsui expects that by the current growth trend of energy demand, by 2015, a total of 353 LNG ships will be needed globally, which is twice the total amount of LNG ships currently in operation and under construction. Qatar’s state-run oil company has officially ordered 10 LNG ships to South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Ocean Shipping Co., Ltd., which is the first in the market.

However, to occupy the high value-added LNG shipbuilding market, development is a key breakthrough. LNG ships are among the most technically difficult categories of all cargo ships worldwide. The R&D and construction of LNG ships involves and integrates more than 300 professional disciplines such as information, laser, energy, power, materials, control, and advanced manufacturing technologies. The LNG storage technology of LNG ships is still unique to Norwegian and French shipyards, and the integrated automation control technology on LNG ships is also monopolized by Japanese shipyards.

On May 24th, the first high-pressure high-temperature pipe of LNG ship produced by Hudong Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd. passed the acceptance of American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and shipowners. This is another breakthrough that Hudong Zhonghua has made after conquering the problems of low temperature pipe, Yinwa component and medium temperature pipe of LNG ship.

Although South Korea is currently the country with the largest number of LNG ship orders, the key technologies require the purchase of Norwegian and Japanese patents. The Korean shipbuilding industry believes that technological monopoly restricts the development of LNG ships. To this end, South Korea has vigorously developed LNG ship technology and hopes to make progress in LNG storage tank technology. When South Korea's LNG storage ship technology is successfully developed, South Korea will use its own technology to build LNG ships, without having to pay a multi-million dollar technical patent fee to a European ship company for each LNG ship. Daewoo Shipbuilding & Ocean Engineering Co., Ltd. has also developed a comprehensive automatic control technology for LNG ships, and has achieved localization. South Korean shipbuilding companies are vigorously developing LNG ship technology in order to break the technological monopoly of European shipbuilding companies and Japanese shipbuilding companies, reduce the cost of LNG ships, and receive orders for LNG ships in large quantities to dominate the international market for LNG ships in the future.