VESSEL REVIEW | Rex Tillerson & Umm Ghuwailina – QatarEnergy expands LNG carrier fleet with 174,000cbm newbuilds

QatarEnergy recently took delivery of two new LNG carriers in a series built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation subsidiary Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding. The ships have been named Rex Tillerson – after the former US Secretary of State, who has also been regarded as a key figure in the development of Qatar’s domestic LNG industry – and Umm Ghuwailina – after a historic district in the Qatari capital city of Doha.

Fitted with advanced emissions reduction systems

The acquisition of the new ships is in line with QatarEnergy’s goal of operating over a hundred vessels to form what it claims will be the world’s largest single fleet of LNG carriers.

The newbuilds each have an LOA of 299 metres (981 feet), a beam of 46.4 metres (152 feet), a depth of 26.25 metres (86.12 feet), and a total cargo capacity of 174,000 cubic metres (6.14 million cubic feet). Each ship also boasts a twin-skeg design as well as and other systems for improving hydrodynamics and reducing carbon emissions.

Each LNG carrier is powered by a dual-fuel diesel engine equipped with an intelligent control by exhaust recycling (ICER) system, which can help reduce methane slip in gas mode as well as greenhouse gas emissions. By cooling and recirculating the exhaust gas, the ICER system allows some of the methane in the exhaust gas to be re-combusted, thus further reducing the ship's emissions.

Rex Tillerson and Umm Ghuwailina were designed and built in compliance with China Classification Society and American Bureau of Shipping rules. Both ships will sail under the flag of Liberia and will be operated alongside two other LNG carriers on long-term charter contracts with a subsidiary of Japanese shipping company Mitsui OSK Lines.

The two newbuilds and five other LNG carriers to be built by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding will all serve QatarEnergy’s North Field Expansion Project. The latter seeks to expand Qatar’s gas production to 126 million tonnes per annum by 2027.