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each ship are designed for a maximum pressure of 3.0 barg (4,000 kPa), based on a pressure build-up period of seven days for a single voyage, plus a two-day margin. The Kawasaki panel insulation system on the cargo tanks helps to minimise heat ingress.
State of flux
ABIOVE: Japan relies on coastal LNG distribution to deliver gas where it is needed
Several require onward deliveries by LNG road tanker to smaller satellite stations. Built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, the six Japanese coastal LNG tankers feature a simple design, using a conventional diesel propulsion system. Because the delivery voyages are short, the Type C tanks can accommodate the slow pressure build-up caused by generating cargo boil-off gas (BOG). This obviates the need for a gas-burning engine or a reliquefaction plant. The two independent, aluminium cargo tanks on
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Not surprisingly, given that Japan is the world’s largest import market by a wide margin, its LNG logistics is elaborate and in a state of constant flux. Many of the original road tanker and ISO tank deliveries brought the benefits of natural gas and LNG to locations that previously depended on town gas. On some routes, road tanker and tank container consignments have supported much greater use of natural gas, bolstering a case for building a pipeline. In several instances the coastal fleet has also supported expansion of the local markets, requiring terminals to accommodate conventional-size LNG carriers. One example is Hokkaido Gas, which commissioned an LNG import terminal at Ishikari in late 2012 to cater for rising electricity demand on Japan's northernmost island. Ishikari, the first major LNG terminal on Hokkaido, has two large storage units and will add two more by 2020. Hokkaido Gas has utilised the 2,500m3 North Pioneer to transport LNG from Tokyo Gas’ Sodegaura terminal in Tokyo Bay to the island’s small Hakodate Minato plant since the vessel's delivery in late 2005. North Pioneer still serves Hakodate Minato but because Ishikari has a coastal tanker berth and a deepsea jetty, many of its voyages are limited solely to Hokkaido island. Shikoku Gas, another user of coastal tankers, has similarly constructed a new large-scale import terminal.
Its Sakaide LNG facility, which opened in 2010, supports pipeline and road tanker deliveries to customers in the Takamatsu region of Shikoku, the smallest of Japan's four major islands. Nevertheless, Shikoku Gas, like Hokkaido Gas, continues to receive LNG by coastal tanker, in this case from its long-term suppliers Osaka Gas and Kitakyushu LNG. Elsewhere, Japan Petroleum Exploration ( Japex) plans additional employment for Akebono Maru, the coastal tanker it charters. The company is constructing the Soma LNG import terminal at Shinchi in Fukushima Prefecture to rejuvenate a region devastated by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. From next spring, Soma will supply gas to new local power plants and will load LNG on the vessel and on road tankers. Akebono Maru will ship its cargoes to Yufutsu on Hokkaido, where Japex operates a small-scale receiving terminal and a liquefaction plant for processing gas from one of the country's few domestic fields.
Yokohama bunkering Growing use of LNG as marine fuel will support the introduction of domestic LNG bunker vessels and will boost the activities of Japan’s coastal tanker fleet. The country’s first LNG-powered vessel to operate domestically, the tug Sakigake, came into service at the Tokyo Bay port of Yokohama in August. Sakigake takes its fuel from an LNG road tanker at Shinko Pier, receiving seven tonnes of liquefied gas supplied from the nearby Negishi terminal every fortnight. Three of Tokyo Bay’s five LNG import terminals have road-tanker loading bays. Yokohama is one of Japan’s leading ports, especially for container ships, cruise vessels
and car carriers. Japan has high expectations to turn it into an LNG bunkering hub. A port steering group recently completed a feasibility study that sets out a three-stage plan to realise Yokohama’s LNGfuelling ambitions. The Yokohama report concluded that bunkering small vessels using jettyside transfers from road tankers can grow straight away, given the LNG available in Tokyo Bay. All the port needs is a fleet of gasburning vessels that requires the fuel and dedicated jettyside bunkering locations to replace the temporary arrangement on Shinko Pier. Ship-to-ship (STS) transfers, from LNG bunker tankers or barges to large LNG-powered ships, are unlikely to figure prominently in Japan until 2020. This is when the 0.5 per cent global sulphur cap takes effect. Once introduced, however, LNG bunker vessels will be able to deliver the volumes needed to make gas-fuelled shipping more economically justifiable. The ability of Tokyo Bay's largest LNG import terminal Sodegaura to load small tankers at its dedicated coastal berth will enable much of the port’s forecast STS bunker requirement to be met. Tokyo Gas’ new Hitachi LNG terminal to the north of Tokyo Bay can also load small LNG tankers. The Yokohama study group also considered the possibility of adding a small tanker jetty at the nearby Negishi import facility. The masterplan also includes introducing LNG bunkering in other Japanese ports and coastal distribution to support it. Yokohama plans to work with shipowners and government agencies to speed up acceptance of LNG-fuelled domestic and international shipping, to offer incentives to switch from oil to gas bunkers. LNG
LNG World Shipping | March/April 2017