Chemicals plant operator SP Chemicals (Taixing) Co Ltd – based in Taixing city, East China's Jiangsu province – held a celebration and arrival ceremony on May 31 for the first voyage of the new 99,000-cubic-meter large-scale ethane-ethylene carrier the Pacific SP Minerva.
The company says the vessel will exclusively provide it with ethane transportation services.
After 70 days of sailing, the ship – traveling from Houston city in the United States – docked at the Taixing SP Chemicals Terminal on May 29, carrying an estimated 43,000 metric tons of ethane.
With the ship, SP Chemicals (Taixing) Co can directly purchase ethane from the US and independently control 20-30 percent of the company's ethane logistics.
The design of the ship features a total length of 230 meters, a width of 36.6 m, a depth of 22.5 m, and a loading capacity that ranks first among similar ships in the world.
It is equipped with dual fuel engines and shaft generators that can use ethane as fuel, which can reduce sulfide emissions by 99 percent and carbon oxide emissions by 18 percent.
The new ethane tanker, the Pacific SP Minerva positions itself to unload its cargo. [Photo/WeChat account: txfabu]