''Methane Princess'' and ''Methane Progress'' were the first purpose-built

LNG carrier An LNG carrier is a tank ship designed for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG). Overview The first oceangoing liquified natural gas tanker in the world was '' Methane Pioneer'', which entered service in 1959 with a carrying capacity of ...

s, entering service in 1964 and used to transport natural gas from Algeria to the UK. ''Methane Princess'' was built at the

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 18 ...

shipyard at

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

and her

sister A sister is a woman or a girl who shares parents or a parent with another individual; a female sibling. The male counterpart is a brother. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to ref ...

Harland & Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...

in Belfast.

Design and construction

In 1958 the tanker ''

Methane Pioneer ''Methane Pioneer'' was the first oceangoing liquified natural gas tanker in the world. Built in 1945 as a cargo ship named ''Marline Hitch'', the vessel was renamed ''Don Aurelio'' and ''Normarti'' before being rebuilt in 1958 for the purpose ...

'' entered service, converted from a cargo ship for the sea transport of

liquified natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume o ...

(LNG), by a joint venture of

Conoco Conoco ( ), formerly known as Continental Oil, is an American Petroleum industry, petroleum brand that is operating under the current ownership of the Phillips 66 Company since 2012 and is headquartered in the Westchase, Houston, Westchase neigh ...

and

Union Stock Yards The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., or The Yards, was the meatpacking district in Chicago for more than a century, starting in 1865. The district was formed by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a vast cen ...

, funded by the British

Gas Council The Gas Council was a UK government body that provided strategic oversight of the gas industry in England, Wales and Scotland between 1949 and 1972. The British gas industry was nationalised under the provisions of the Gas Act 1948 ( 11 & 12 Geo ...

, later joined by the

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

and renamed Conch International Methane. Following the successful proving of the technological and commercial viability by ''Methane Pioneer'', two identical purpose-designed tankers were ordered by Conch to service a contract by British Gas to import LNG from

Arzew Arzew or Arzeu (, ) is a seaport, port city in Algeria, 25 miles (40 km) from Oran. It is the capital of Arzew District, Oran Province. History Antiquity Like the rest of the Maghreb, the site of modern-day Arzew was originally in ...

, Algeria. One ship was ordered from Vickers-Armstrongs Shipbuilders at

as Yard No.1071 and the other from

in Belfast as Yard No.1653. Both ships were

long overall Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, and is also u ...

and

between perpendiculars Length between perpendiculars (often abbreviated as p/p, p.p., pp, LPP, LBP or Length BPP) is the length of a ship along the summer load line from the forward surface of the stem, or main bow perpendicular member, to the after surface of the ster ...

, with a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of , and measured 21876 gross registered tons. Their cargo volume capacity was , divided between nine

prismatic An optical prism is a transparent optics, optical element with flat, polished surfaces that are designed to refraction, refract light. At least one surface must be angled—elements with two parallel surfaces are ''not'' prisms. The most fami ...

, or prism-shaped, tanks. Unlike the diesel-powered ''Methane Pioneer'', the new ships were powered by a novel system with dual fuel

steam turbines A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

, utilising boil-off LNG from the cargo tanks as well as conventional fuel oil. The keel of ''Methane Princess'' was laid on 26 April 1962 and she was launched on 22 June 1963. The keel of ''Methane Progress'' was laid on 24 September 1962 and she was launched on 19 September 1963.

Commercial operation

Although ''Methane Progress'' was completed first, on 26 May 1964, it was ''Methane Princess'' (completed 21 June) that took on the first load of natural gas at

, Algeria when the liquefaction plant was opened on 27 September, and arrived at the

's terminal at

Canvey island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames Estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics. ...

, Essex on 12 October. The two ships could transport 700,000 tons of liquified gas per year, then estimated as 10 per cent of Britain's gas consumption. The import of LNG from Algeria to Canvey ceased in 1981. ''Methane Progress'' was scrapped in 1986 at Castellón, Spain, but her sister not until 1997, at

Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Al ...

, India.

References

External links

*https://www.helderline.com/tanker/methane-princess-1 *https://web.archive.org/web/20070922174134/http://www.chesterahoy.com/SHIPS/bd.htm *https://web.archive.org/web/20080919133957/http://www.tonyholt.net/mprincess.htm Energy history of the United Kingdom Natural gas industry in the United Kingdom LNG tankers Ships built in Barrow-in-Furness 1963 ships Tankers of the United Kingdom {{Merchantship-stub