Launching China's first liquefied gas vessel

China's first liquefied gas vessel launched on Wednesday in Shanghai has taken China's shipbuilding technology to new heights.

Closed liquefied gas vessels require high technology and very accurate parameters. So far, only Japan, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and some European countries have the ability to build ships of this type.

China has invested more than 100 million yuan (about US $ 12.5 million) in the study of liquefied ships in previous years and signed the first liquefied gas shipbuilding contract in August 2004. The first liquefied gas vessel is 292m long, 43.35m wide and has a capacity of 147,200m3 and is scheduled to be exploited until October 2007.

THAI HIEP