update NewS from dNv to the tANker INduStry No 02 2011 - Hays

Arctic Princessmajor ice forming on the ship, in spite ofsub-zero temperatures and sea spray coveringmost of the ship. The combination ofwind force and direction, wave heights, seaand air temperatures has so far never beenright for major icing. The Snøhvit vesselsare modern state-of-the-art ships and it isreally a privilege to be a captain on boardthe Arctic Lady. It’s like being a captain ofa cruise ship.”So you like the way the ship handles?The ship is strong and with a few exceptionsnormally handles like a dream. Wehave some 9,800 sq m of steel surfaceabove the waterline and can operateat a cruising speed of 19.5 knots. Thenavigation systems are, of course, thebest there are, so yes, it handles like ayacht.”Can you describe the trade you do – once youleave Melkøya?“Our two ships were originally designedto trade the North Atlantic from Melkøyato the US East Coast. However, this haschanged since the shale gas projects weredeveloped in the US, significantly reducingthe need for imported LNG. Today,we sail to different European ports butwe have also done the long haul from theMelkøya terminal to KOGAS’s Incheonterminal outside Seoul in Korea. Thattrip is 15,000 nautical miles one way, eventaking the shortest route through theSuez channel.”Captain Gusdal was off duty when wetalked to him, but in late November heis joining his favourite ship in Singaporewhere she will continue on another voyageto Korea. He captained LPG carriersuntil 2007 when he joined Höegh andstarted to sail on the Arctic Lady. Höegh LNGOslo-based Höegh LNG operates a fleet ofseven LNG carriers, including two shuttle andregasification vessels. Höegh has close to 40 yearsof experience as a carrier of liquefied natural gasfor customers such as Gasnatural, GDF Suez,Statoil, Total and Repsol.›› The loading terminal at Melkøya, Norway, is the northernmost LNG terminal in the world.Photo: Darko Kucic©Wikipedia user: BerkutTanker update NO. 2 2011 | 27