Ship of the Year: MOL FSRU Challenger

MOL FSRU Challenger is Maritime Reporter & Engineering News' Great Ships of 2017.

The World’s Largest Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU Max). Japanese shipowner Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) in middle of October, took delivery of MOL FSRU Challenger the world largest floating storage and regasification unit (called FSRU Max vessel) from South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd. The state-of-the art FSRU Max vessel has a variety of valued functions, and the vessel is scheduled to commence storage and regasification services to a project in Turkey within end of 2017. Ship Description: FSRU Max vessel has a variety of state-of-the art valued functions. 263,000 cbm largest LNG storage tanks are constructed with highest mega-reinforcement design of GTT No96 membrane cargo containment system. Huge capacity of boil-off gas handling machineries onboard enables to receive LNG from shuttle ships at high transfer rate, both from marine loading jetty arms or from ship-to-ship cryogenic hoses, and also allows for re-export LNG operation to shuttle ships for transshipment supply of LNG to neighboring regions. Regasification skids and gas transfer machineries onboard are designed with high redundancy and robust isolation philosophy, as verified that the entire system is rated to operational reliability of 98.5%, which enables to achieve regular maintenances of LNG storage tanks and regasification skids without interrupting regasification service. In order to achieve no docking maintenance for 20 year service period, special design upgrades are implemented into various fields. For example, underwater hull coating and seawater intake/overboard valves, mooring and deck crane layouts, exposed steel outfitting, etc. Eco-friendly designs and various risk analysis programs for evaluation and mitigating environmental impacts to surrounding sea and air are also implemented in order to satisfy industrial standards and any local requirement at FSRU jetty terminals.