Venture Global has launched its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel, the Venture Gator, at a ceremony at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoji-si, South Korea.
Venture Gator
The Venture Gator is a 174,000m3 ship, which features a new hull design, onboard reliquefication (for liquefying gas that has ‘boiled off’ in transit), air-lubrication systems (ejecting air bubbles from the hull to reduce friction through the water), an auxiliary shaft generator (reducing the number of auxiliary generators running at sea), and exhaust gas recirculation systems (to reduce methane). According to the company, the ship will be primarily fueled by Venture Global’s LNG.
LNG carrier fleet
The ship is the first of nine LNG carriers in the Venture Global fleet to be completed across three shipyards in South Korea over the coming 24 months, which will transport LNG from the US to multiple global partners and destinations. The Venture Gator and progressively the fleet’s other eight ships will commence serving Venture Global’s partners in Europe and Asia beginning in autumn 2024.
Mike Sabel, CEO of Venture Global, said, “Venture Global is proud to have launched our first ship, the Venture Gator at SHI in Korea. President Biden has committed to increasing LNG supply into Europe and we are pleased to be in a position to continue to support these efforts with a fast-growing shipping fleet, wholly owned, operated and controlled by Venture Global. With these ships, we will increase the security of natural gas supply, through low-cost LNG delivered directly to allies across the world.”
In related news, TECO 2030 and BLOM Maritime recently received an Enova grant for a pre-project aiming to retrofit multimodal logistics company Samskip’s vessel Kvitnos with TECO 2030 fuel cells and zero-emission hydrogen fuel. Click here to read the full story.