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Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI), the world’s biggest shipbuilder, has today announced that it has developed an independent liquefied natural gas storage tank model, Lobe-Bundle Tank.

Hyundai Heavy’s newly-developed LNG storage tank won Approval in Principle from the Japanese classification society Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (NK) in June 2012. While the storage tank is designed for 165,000 cbm LNG carriers, it can also be used in LPG carriers, LNG FPSOs, LNG-fuelled vessels and LNG bunkering systems.

The Lobe-Bundle Tank uses ring-shaped plates instead of conventional flat plates to reduce the weight of the tank and building cost significantly. The tank is built using spray-type insulation rather than panel-type insulation, substantially reducing construction time.

Hyundai Heavy’s LNG tank technology meets International Maritime Organization standards requiring high level of structural analysis and fatigue/fracture analysis for Type B independent LNG storage tanks.

Hyundai Heavy says it plans to build pilot LNG storage tanks and acquire general approval from NK by 2013.