en.Wedoany.com Reported - On June 10, Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited, officially named and delivered the "IVY COVE," the first 93,000-cubic-meter Very Large Ammonia Carrier (VLAC) built for Singapore's EPS Company. This vessel is not only the world's first order of its type but also the first 93,000-cubic-meter VLAC built in China to enter operation.
This vessel is a derivative model (Panda 93A) of the fourth-generation Very Large Gas Carrier (VLGC) independently developed and designed by Jiangnan Shipyard. It is currently the world's largest ammonia carrier, with an overall length of 230 meters, a beam of 36.6 meters, a depth of 22.5 meters, and a structural draft of 13 meters, classed by Lloyd's Register (LR). During the development of this vessel, the team considered that anhydrous ammonia has a higher density than conventional Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and specially reinforced the tank design. At the same time, a fully independently developed new-generation low-resistance hull form was adopted, ensuring excellent and balanced performance under full load, ballast, and various cargo density conditions. Additionally, the R&D team applied, for the first time, a combined use of wave-piercing and seakeeping hull form patents along with energy-saving devices before and after the propeller, achieving a balance between speed and maximum cargo capacity while ensuring waterway accessibility and terminal loading/unloading compatibility, elevating its comprehensive energy efficiency to internationally advanced levels.
The vessel is also equipped with "upgrade interfaces," featuring a mature LPG dual-fuel main engine and shaft generator, which can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by approximately 20% and sulfur oxide emissions by about 99%, meeting the stringent requirements of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) Phase 3, laying a solid foundation for future upgrades to ammonia power.
As the lead vessel of the series, the "IVY COVE" also marks the first collaboration between Jiangnan Shipyard and EPS Company. The two teams worked closely and communicated efficiently during the construction process, overcoming milestone challenges one after another. Notably, Jiangnan Shipyard resumed the gas filling and "three-in-one" sea trial method after a two-year hiatus, imposing extremely high requirements on the integrity of the cargo and gas systems. Once the strength test of the cargo system piping was completed, the team simultaneously commenced cargo equipment commissioning and tank inerting operations, breaking down the plan to an hourly level and implementing "hourly" task assignments to ensure continuous work without downtime. Ultimately, in just 12 days, they completed the drying and inerting of the tanks and the commissioning and inspection of all cargo and gas equipment, steadily achieving gas filling as planned, securing the most critical step for a smooth delivery.
It is understood that the series comprises six vessels, contracted in April and August 2023 respectively, representing the world's first batch of 93,000-cubic-meter VLAC orders. The maiden voyage of the "IVY COVE" profoundly reflects Jiangnan Shipyard's accumulated technical expertise in the VLGC field, further unleashing the powerful momentum of China's high-end shipbuilding industry towards innovation and green development.
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