The 40,000-cubic-meter medium-sized fully-refrigerated liquefied gas carrier MIRAI was successfully delivered to Kumiai Sanpaku CO., Ltd, a Japanese company, by Jiangnan Shipyard and China Shipbuilding Trading Co., Ltd. - two subsidiaries of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited.
MIRAI is the first domestically-built medium-sized fully-refrigerated liquefied gas carrier developed by Jiangnan Shipyard, and can transport liquefied petroleum gas, as well as petrochemical products, such as anhydrous ammonia and vinyl chloride monomer.
The vessel was designed and built with the concepts of energy-saving, environmental protection and intelligence. It has a total length of 180 meters, a beam of 30 meters, three independent fully-refrigerated type-A cargo tanks, and two 500-cubic-meter type-C deck tanks, which can meet the ship-owners' requirements for gas and cargo exchange. With a total cargo capacity of 41,000 cubic meters, its speed and energy consumption indicators are at the international leading level. The engine room is equipped with a liquefied petroleum gas dual-fuel low-speed main engine and a shaft-driven generator. In the liquefied petroleum gas mode and shaft-driven state, sulfur oxide emissions can be reduced to zero.
Currently, about 180,000 to 200,000 tons of ammonia are transported by gas carriers every year, with about 40 vessels engaged in ammonia trade. However, due to the limitations of port equipment, the ship types used for ammonia transportation are mainly medium-sized gas carriers. Jiangnan Shipyard regards this vessel as a landmark ship type, which is capable of a smooth transition to ammonia fuel power once ammonia fuel engine technology matures, and achieve net zero in sulfur oxide emissions with green ammonia.
(Executive editor: Xie Yunxiao)
