News and Press Releases

April 2, 2008 - Tokyo, Japan. A consortium comprising Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. ("K" Line), Mitsui & Co., Ltd. and Imabari Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., announced today the successful delivery of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier, "TRINITY ARROW," constructed at Imabari Shipbuilding Group’s Koyo Dockyard Co., Ltd. The vessel is the first LNG vessel constructed by Imabari Shipbuilding Group and will be chartered to a subsidiary of Cheniere Energy, Inc., an American energy company, soon after her delivery. "K" Line Group’s "K" Line LNG Shipping (UK) Limited, headquartered in London, will be responsible for the ship management of "TRINITY ARROW."

Imabari Shipbuilding Group has been focusing on research and development to construct a Membrane type LNG carrier licensed by the French company, Gaztransport & Technigaz (GTT), in December 2000. Agreed by and among "K" Line, Mitsui & Co. and Imabari Shipbuilding to build the LNG vessel in August 2004, the vessel has now been delivered after successful sea trial and gas handling test under "K" Line’s technical support.

Having Japan’s largest class of tank capacity of 154,900m3, the vessel is compatible with many major existing LNG terminals around the world. By introducing the world’s first Trapezoidal Tank in horizontal direction and environmentally-friendly Reinforced Polyurethane Foam (R-Puf) for heat insulation, resulting in larger capacity of No.1 tank as well as low boil-off gas rate.

This vessel will be utilized for transporting LNG world wide, including to LNG receiving terminals being developed by Cheniere Energy in the US. Responding to the growing and diversified demands of global LNG trading, this brand new vessel, with "K" Line and Mitsui & Co.’s global commercial network, promises efficient, reliable and customer-friendly LNG transportation.

"TRINITY ARROW"