by OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Mar. 22 -- ChevronTexaco Shipping Co. LLC, San Ramon, Calif., Thursday reported that its affiliate, Chevron Transport Corp. Ltd., will be operator of the North West Shelf venture natural gas project's newest LNG carrier, the Northwest Swan—the ninth and largest vessel in their fleet. Current plans call for the vessel to deliver LNG from the project's Western Australian operations to customers in Japan, Korea, and China and to the LNG spot market.
The Northwest Swan, constructed at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering shipyard in Okpo, South Korea, will feature a membrane containment system that provides the ship with a more conventional profile, unlike the fleet's other eight ships, which are equipped with spherical tanks.
The vessel is 287 m long and has a beam of 43.4 m, a draught of 11.5 m, and a capacity of 138,500 cu m, compared with 125,000 cu m in the existing fleet.
North West Shelf venture participants, each of whom holds an equal interest, are operator Woodside Energy Ltd., ChevronTexaco Australia Pty Ltd., BHP Billiton Petroleum (North West Shelf) Pty Ltd., BP Developments Australia Pty Ltd., Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) Pty Ltd., and Shell Development (Australia) Proprietary Ltd.