MEYER WERFT delivered its first gas tanker in 1961. At 60 metres in length and with 900 cubic metres of cargo volume, the KIRSTEN THOLSTRUP was relatively small by today’s standards. But it opened up a whole new business area for the shipyard, as gas tankers have since been built in Papenburg for German, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, British and Russian shipping companies. In the 1990s, around 20% of the world’s gas transportation vessels came from Papenburg.

Gases are best transported as a liquid, and this state is achieved through cooling or compression. That’s why lots of complex technology has to be installed in the hull of the floating giants: robust tanks in which the liquid cargo can be cooled down or pressurised, cooling and heating systems, loading pumps and tank cleaning systems. When combined with the extensive piping systems, they transform the ships into floating chemical plants.

Our two shipyards have long been regarded as specialists in the construction of tankers for the transportation of liquefied petroleum gas, liquefied natural gas and chemicals. Over 50 tankers have already been built at MEYER WERFT in Papenburg and NEPTUN WERFT in Rostock. The largest gas tanker constructed at MEYER WERFT – the DONAU – has a cargo volume of 30,000 cubic metres.

In 2013 we delivered the CORAL ENERGY to the Dutch shipping company Anthony Veder and followed this up with the CORAL ENERGICE in 2018: These gas tankers are fitted with environmentally friendly dual-fuel engines, an innovative drive system that allows the transported LPG to be used as fuel. This results in extremely low exhaust emissions, making the two ships, each almost 164 metres long, among the most environmentally friendly of their kind.