Kawasaki Heavy Industries held a christening and launching ceremony for the world's first liquefied hydrogen carrier at its Kobe shipyard on Wednesday, December 11.
The 116- by 19-metre Suiso Frontier is being developed to provide a means of transporting liquefied hydrogen at 1/800 of its original gas-state volume, cooled to –253°C, safely and in large quantities over long distances by sea.
Kawasaki plans to install a 1,250-cubic-metre vacuum-insulated, double-shell-structure liquefied hydrogen storage tank, currently being manufactured at Harima Works, on the ship and complete construction by late 2020.
Once completed, Suiso Frontier will be used for technology demonstration testing in Japanese fiscal year 2020. The testing will be aimed at the establishment of an international hydrogen energy supply chain in which liquefied hydrogen produced in Australia will be shipped to Japan.