LNG Tanker Shahamah. This 1:1250 scale miniature built by the CSC Workshop is part of our general display on deck 9 of the museum.
Not only the gigantic „LNG“ writing on her sides, but also her characteristic structure let us recognize the Shahamah as a liquified natural gas tanker. This type of liquid bulk carriers have existed since 1959. In that year, a freighter built in 1945 was modified to transport LNG, renamed Methane Pioneer, and set to successfully cross the Atlantic Ocean. The popularity of this way to transport natural gas has grown through the decades, and so has the worldwide fleet of LNG tankers.
Similar ships also transport LPG (liquified petroleum gas). Petroleum gas can be liquified when submitted to the right pressure alone, but natural gas also needs tho be cooled down to gain a liquid form. The tanks of this ships have to be able to keep their cargo at a temperature of around -162°C. Despite the insulation technology to keep the cargo in liquid form, there is always a some cargo that will „boil-off“ back to its gas state. In many LNG tankers, this gas is used to fuel the steam turbines used for the ships propulsion. This means the ship is using its own cargo as fuel. More modern LNG tankers use diesel-electric engines. The loading/unloading operations for LNG are extremely complex and involve a long list of safety measures.
There are other form of tanks for LNG carriers, but this peculiar spheres are known as Moss tanks, after the Norvegian company Moss Maritime, responsible for their design.
The LNG Shahamah was built by the Kawasaki Sakaide Works shipyard in Japan, 1994. She has since been on duty for the National Gas Shipping Company, a division of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company of the United Arab Emirates, serving in South and East Asian waters. She has had no changes of owners or name and has kept the flag of Liberia so far.
This 1:1250 scale miniature built by the CSC Workshop is part of our general display on deck 9 of the museum.