GTT MEMBRANE Containment System
The Inigo Tapias uses the Gaz Transport Technigaz (GTT)-Membrane No.96 containment system, which in turn utilizes Invar steel in the four-tank cargo containment arrangement. There are a total of eight 1,700 m3/h electrically driven submerged cargo pumps.

With a deadweight of 68,200 tons and gross tonnage of 93,450 tons, the Inigo Tapias is 284.4 m x 42.5 m x 25.4 m. Its main propulsion system comprises a Kawasaki steam turbine plant of 28,000 kW output giving a shaft speed of 83 rpm. The two boilers have a maximum rate of 65,000 kg/h with a steam condition of 61.8 kg/cm2 at 515º C. The shaft is attached to a five-bladed fixed pitch propeller of diameter 8.5 m. The steam turbine plant has been built in Izar’s Ferrol newbuilding yard, which is among the largest builders of steam turbine plants in Europe. It’s also the main builder of warships for the Spanish Navy.

Izar is looking to other natural gas projects to fill its building slots with delivery dates in 2005. This would require an order being signed within the first quarter of this year. Although the Sestao shipyard has a license to build spherical containment systems of the Moss Rosenburg design, future orders are likely to have the GTT system, as Izar has made massive investments into turning the Sestao shipyard into a specialist yard for such vessels. Also on order at Sestao are three “jumbo” trailing suction hopper dredges, one for Singapore’s Toa Corp. and two for Belgium’s Jan de Nul.

Izar: still looking for profits
Although no repair and maintenance section has been written into the newbuilding contracts for the LNG vessels, Izar Carenas, the company’s ship repair division, has repaired over 15 such vessels in the company’s Ferrol Shipyard over the past two years.

While the Tapias launch signifies a momentous step forward for the Sestao shipyard, making it one of the main players in the LNG building market throughout the world, SEPI, which is the state-owned holding company for Izar, has said that the shipbuilding company is still making a loss and will do so over the next two years. During 2001, Izar reported losses of Euro 132 million ($114 million). However, the forward prospects look good for the shipbuilding company, the current newbuilding orderbook valued at Euro 4.8 billion, which includes the five LNG carriers said to be worth some $150 million each.

Izar operates newbuilding facilities at Sestao, Gijon, Ferrol and Fene (all on Spain’s Atlantic coast, at Puerto Real and San Fernando (both located in Cadiz), Seville (located north of Cadiz) and Cartagena (on Spain’s Mediterranean coast). Izar Carenas repair facilities are operated at Ferrol/Fene, Cadiz, San Fernando, and Cartagena and diesel engine manufacture is located at Manises. ML

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