[ Korea’s first-ever liquefied natural gas(LNG)ship was delivered]

Korea’s first-ever liquefied natural gas (LNG) ship was delivered to
Hyundai Merchant Marine Co. by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. with fanfa
re on June 10th.
The Moss-type ship will be put into service starting next month to tra
nsport 1 million tons of Indonesian LNG per year over the next 20 year
s under construction with state-run Korea Gas Corp.(KGC)
“The ship has a great significance in that it is the first LNG built
by a Korea shipbuilder and is being operating by a Korean shipping fir
m, reflecting Korea’s high shipbuilding standards and ship operation
capabilities,”said Park Se-yong, president of Hyundai Merchant Marine
.
The ship was christened “Hyundai Utopia” during the naming ceremony,
which was attended by about 300 persons.
Hundai Utopia is the first of three identical ships to be built at the
Hyundai shipyard for the KGC’s long-term LNG import plan. Another LN
G carrier, a membrane-type ship, is being built by Hyundai Heavy Indus
tries Co.
Hyundai Merchant Marine Co., a shipping unit of the Hyundai Group, wil
l operrate the LNG ship.
The $235 million vessel with a capacity of 125,000 cubic meters is 274
meters long, 47.2 meters wide and 26.5 meters deep with a designed dr
aft of 10.95 meters.
The ship is equipped with four independent spherical tanks of close to
40 meters in diameter.
With an expected surge in demand for LNG at home, local shipbuilders e
xpect a continued rise in the construction of LNG carriers.
Korea’s LNG imports amounted to 4.35 million tons last year, compared
with 3.63 million tons in 1992 and 2.29 million tons in 1991.
They predict the import amount for this year to reach 5.31 million ton
s, 6.33 million tons in 1995 and 11.59 million tons in 2000.
Korea’s average annual import growth rate for LNG was 22 percent over
the past five years.
To meet the growing LNG consumption, Korea Gas Corp. decided to bring
in an additional 2 million tons of Indonesian LNG from this year to 20
14.
It also signed contracts with Malaysian LNG to import 2 million tons o
f LNG per year starting next year to 2015.