French LNG containment specialist GTT and China Merchants Heavy Industries-Jiangsu (CMHI-Jiangsu), a subsidiary of China Merchants Industry Holdings (CMI), one of the three major shipbuilding groups in China, have signed a Technical Assistance and License Agreement enabling the yard to construct vessels using GTT membrane technologies.
GTT and China Merchant Industry Holdings have been cooperating for a decade, with a first Technical Service Agreement signed in 2013 for the maintenance and repair of LNG carriers.
A cooperation agreement has also been initiated in 2016 for the evaluation of CMHI to implement GTT technologies.
The latest Technical Assistance and License Agreement marks a new stage in the partnership between the two companies as the shipyard is now licensed for the construction of large-capacity LNG carriers, according to a statement.
Philippe Berterottière, chairman and CEO of GTT, declared, “We expect the new stage of this partnership to be a real success both in the LNG carrier construction and in the LNG fuelled market as the shipyard is renowned for its variety of vessels constructions.”
CMHI-Jiangsu began the licensing process earlier this year and successfully obtained it at the mock-up completion ceremony held on 10 October.
“We are already acquainted with GTT’s technologies and we are determined to consolidate our shipbuilding experience with these technologies for large LNG carrier, Floating Storage Unit (FSU), Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU), Floating Liquefied Naturel Gas (FLNG), Very Large Ethane Carrier (VLEC), as well as LNG fuelled merchant vessels,” stated Simple Hu, general manager of China Merchants Industry Holdings (CMI).
