LNT Marine and Shanghai Merchant Ship Design and Research Institute (SDARI) received approval in principle (AIP) from ABS for the latest variant of their LNT A-BOX® liquified natural gas (LNG) containment system, which is more than three times the size of the previous design.

The new design is for a 175,000-cubic-meter (m3) LNG carrier, a significant increase in capacity from the earlier 45,000 m3 design installed on the pioneering ABS-classed Saga Dawn carrier for Saga LNG Shipping.

The LNT A-BOX system features self-supporting IMO Type-A tanks mounted within an insulated hold space. Representatives from ABS, SDARI and LNT Marine met during Nor-Shipping 2023 for the presentation of the AIP.

“ABS has a proud track record of supporting the innovative LNT A-BOX technology since the very beginning. This latest design will provide much needed capacity to meet the increased demand around the world,” said Patrick Ryan, ABS Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer.

“We are very pleased and thankful for the long-lasting collaboration with ABS and SDARI leading to this approval. This design and AIP for a 175,000 m3 LNG carrier with aluminum tanks, demonstrates the suitability and competitiveness of LNT A-BOX® containment system for large-scale LNG carrier (LNGC) applications.

“The LNT A-BOX cargo containment system is simple and robust, with a self-supporting primary tank – in this case made from aluminum, and an independent full secondary barrier. The tanks with internal structure offer flexible filling levels and operation. This design is efficient in terms of hydrodynamic performance and thermal efficiency offering low fuel consumption and market-leading boil-off rate (BOR).

“As this solution also enables more shipyards to build LNG carriers, we are now in a position to offer the sector more capacity, competition and flexibility in the field of LNG shipbuilding, which we believe is in the interest of the entire LNG industry,” said Kjetil S. Strand, CEO of LNT Marine.

“SDARI always takes a leading position with ship technology development as its mission. We are very pleased to cooperate with LNT Marine and ABS to develop this 175,000 m3 LNG carrier with LNT A-BOX as the cargo containment system. It is expected that this design can enrich the storage tank forms in large LNG carriers and provide more options for owners,” said Gangyi Wang, SDARI Chief Engineer.

ABS is the world’s premier classification society for gas carriers with more than 50 years of experience building and classing gas carriers of every type and size. Learn more here.