Pacific Lighting Marine Awards Contract For Two LNGs To Sun Shipbuilding With Option To Build Three More Ships

A subsidiary of Pacific Lighting Corp., Los Angeles, Calif., contracted on December 28, 1973, with Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Chester, Pa., for the construction of two liquefied natural gas (LNG) ships, it was announced by Paul A. Miller, chairman of the board of Pacific Lighting.

Signed by Pacific Lighting Marine Co., the contracts provide for the construction of two specially designed ships and an option for three additional vessels. The first ship is to be delivered in mid-1977, with subsequent vessels to be delivered at nine-month intervals.

Mr. Miller said the vessels will be used to transport LNG from south Alaska or Indonesia to southern California.

Pacific Lighting has signed a contract with Pertamina, the Indonesian Government-owned oil and gas company, for the equivalent of 550 million cubic feet of gas per day. An application has been filed with the Federal Power Commission (FPC) for permission to import the LNG, Mr. Miller explained.

"Pacific Lighting is also currently negotiating with producers in the Cook Inlet area of south Alaska and anticipates an LNG project from that area, with initial deliveries of 200 million cubic feet of gas per day," Mr. Miller said.

A total of up to 10 vessels similar to those contracted for will be required to move the LNG from both sources.

The price of each of the first two vessels is $102.5 million. The contract also provides for labor and material escalations which will cause limited increases in the purchase price. These escalations, together with financing and other indirect purchasing costs, should bring the total in-service cost of each vessel to about $135 million.

Each ship has a cargo capacity of 130,000 cubic meters of LNG, which is equal to about 2^4 billion cubic feet of -natural gas, in insulated cryogenic tanks. Preliminary plans for the vessels are based on using the Conch self-supporting aluminum system. The cargo containers are insulated to maintain a temperature of minus 260 degrees F.—the temperature at which natural gas becomes a liquid.

The vessels will have an overall length of 989 feet, will be 136 feet wide, and have a draft of 38 feet.

Powered by two 50,000-horsepower steam turbines and twin propellers, the vessels will cruise at a speed of 23 knots. Other features of the ships include a bow thruster for low-speed maneuverability and double hull construction.

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 19, Jan 15, 1974

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