China's biggest liquified natural gas carrier has been launched in Shanghai this Friday. The ship will carry about 1.5 million tons of LNG from Australia to China every year. 

A landmark after two year's hard work. China's biggest liquified natural gas carrier was launched in Shanghai on Friday. As the world's top energy consumer, China wants to raise the share of natural gas in its energy mix in order to cut emissions from coal and lessen its dependence on oil imports. China has nowadays become the world's third biggest importer for LNG.

"The LNG carrier is an important part of the industry chain. It enables us to buy this clean energy from countries of origin at very cheap prices and supply to our customers stably," said Yu Hua, Deputy Chief Engineer of CNOOC Energy Technology & Services Co. Ltd..

The carrier is 290 meters long, more than 45 meters wide, and over 26 meters deep. It will carry about 1.5 million tons of LNG from Australia to China every year from 2017.

This carrier can store 174,000 cubic meters of Liquified Natural Gas -- the equivalent of 107 million cubic meters of natural gas, which can supply all families in Shanghai for an whole month.

Constructing a LNG carrier is considered one of the most challenging tasks in shipbuilding. The LNG needs to be kept at minus 163 degrees Celcius during transport.

"The container is made of a special steel, with more than 60,000 thermal-protective boxes. Workers need to weld them one by one in an environment with constant temperature, pressure and humidity. It is very challenging," said Chen Ruiquan, Deputy General Manager of CNOOC Energy Technology & Service-Oil Production Service Co..

The interior fixtures and fittings of the carrier will be assembled and it will be tested before commencing operations in 2017.