DSME awarded approval in principle for VLEC design

Lloyd’s Register (LR) has awarded approval in principle (AIP) to Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) for its 98,000-cubic-metre very large ethane carrier (VLEC) design with new cryogenic material high manganese austenitic (high MnA) steel and sloshing-free tank, the first VLEC design to use this type of material.

The newly developed VLEC design also has the potential to carry a variety of different gases such as LNG, commercial ethane/ethylene, pure propane, commercial butane, commercial propane, mixture of propane and butane in any proportion, and propylene.

Currently, the application of High MnA steel is only defined for the use of LNG cargo and/or fuel tanks. However, LR says the material could be expanded as a tank for other cargoes with higher design temperatures than LNG, such as ethane (-90 degrees Celsius), ethylene (-104 degrees Celsius), and other specified cargoes.