LNG Fuel-Ready Vessel Guide Helps Prepare for Conversion to LNG Fuel

Companies involved in the design, construction and operational maintenance of marine-related facilities now have a new resource to help them prepare new ships for future conversion to gas propulsion: the ABS Guide for LNG Fuel Ready Vessels.

The guide formalizes the process of planning for conversion to LNG fuel at a future date by providing a detailed approval process and a notation that clarifies the extent to which a vessel is LNG fuel ready. It includes a basic level of Concept Design Approval with a design review for approval in principle (AIP), and two optional levels for general design approval and installed equipment, which constitute a review and survey of the system to be installed on the ship.

The first optional level is a General Design Review that allows an owner to approach a shipyard with a reviewed design package for the gas-fueled system at the time of conversion. The second optional level is Detail Design Approval and Installation which constitutes a complete design review and survey of a system that will be installed on the LNG ready ship in accordance with the ABS Guide for Propulsion and Auxiliary Systems for Gas Fueled Ships.

ABS says it has learned, through the projects it has already worked on, that there is a wide variability from the designer’s and owner’s perspective of the requirements associated with the term “LNG ready.” Rather than rely on current notations and descriptive notes to express to what extent a ship is LNG ready, the ABS Guide will help clients specify work to be done in the construction phase and when they are ready to convert, ABS says.

ABS chairman and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki says the company has seen a strong interest in preparing for a future in which LNG takes a bigger role.