The Lay-Up and Reactivation of LNG Tankers: Lessons Learned

Abstract

The Liquid natural gas (LNG) industry went from a projected boom in the 1970's to a contracted industry in the 1980's, when many ships were either permanently or temporarily laid up. In the 1990s, many laid-up LNG carriers are being reactivated after as many as 12 years in lay-up. While the capital cost of an LNG carrier should dictate maximum preservation of the asset, the LNG industry is not immune to having to make hard economic decisions during slack times. In this paper, the authors present specific alternate lay-up procedures, together with the relative costs of these alternatives. LNG carriers are steam vessels, as are many of the vessels in the Ready Reserve Fleet (RRF). However, many of the conclusions reached can also be applied to motor vessels, and as such could be of interest to operators and shipyards in all phases of the RRF program. The subjects of dehumidification, inert gas plants, ballast tank coatings and drydocking, among others, are discussed.