General Dynamics Nassco christens fourth LNG-conversion-ready tanker

General Dynamics Nassco has announced that it has held a christening ceremony for the Bay State ECO Class tanker at its shipyard in San Diego, US. The ship is the fourth such vessel built for American Petroleum Tankers (APT). All five of the vessels are 50 000 dwt, 610 ft long, have a 330 000 bbl cargo capacity, and are LNG-conversion-ready. The first three – the Lone Star State, the Magnolia State, and the Garden State – have been delivered and are currently in service. The fifth and final vessel is scheduled to be delivered in 2017.

Kevin Graney, Vice President and General Manager for General Dynamics Nassco, said: “The christening of a ship is to wish good fortune to those sailing in her and to celebrate the thousands of hardworking men and women who constructed the ship.

“Even more, we celebrate the significance of the Bay State and her sister ships in the ECO Class program. Upon each respective delivery, the ships constructed as part of this partnership with American Petroleum Tankers will join the ranks as some of the most fuel-efficient and environmentally friendly tankers in the world.”

Rob Kurz, Vice President of Kinder Morgan Terminals and President of APT, said: “After another great christening ceremony, we now look forward to soon taking delivery of the Bay State, our fourth Nassco-built, ECO Class tanker. This state-of-the-art vessel will be another welcome addition to our growing fleet – one that will provide safe and reliable transportation for our customers in the decades ahead. We applaud our partners at NASSCO for making this day possible.”

All five of the vessels have been designed by DSEC, which is a subsidiary of South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME).

Edited from press release by David Rowlands

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/small-scale-lng/19092016/general-dynamics-nassco-christens-fourth-lng-conversion-ready-tanker-3069/