Transporting Liquid Natural Gas
Natural gas, used for home heating and cooking as well as industrial uses, is shipped at -260F degrees—condensed into a liquid. Because liquid natural gas (LNG) is highly flammable, security and safety are essential. Ships offload the tanks at special terminals, and during offloading airplanes and other ships are excluded from the area to prevent accidents. LNG tankers have completed more than 40,000 voyages without serious incident and have the best safety record of any category of commercial shipping.
LNG Tanker Methane Shirley Elisabeth
Length: 928.6 ft
Breadth: 142.4 ft
Depth: 85.3 ft
Builder: Samsung Heavy Industries, Geoje, Korea (Hull 1586)
Crew Size: 28
Gift of the BG Group
LNG Tanker Methane Shirley Elisabeth
LNG ships are among the world’s most expensive and difficult to build. Methane Shirley Elisabeth is one of the newest types. Its double hulls, separated by six feet of seawater, protect four gas tanks. The tanks, called membranes, consist of layers of stainless steel and other materials alternating with thick foam insulation. Inside, they are lined with stainless steel corrugated in two dimensions to keep the frozen gas from sloshing around.
