TRELLEBORG ships its 600th LNG Ship Shore Link

Trelleborg’s marine systems operation has passed a major milestone with the shipment of its 600th SeaTechnikTM Ship Shore Link (SSL) system for the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Industry.

The SeaTechnikTM SMART SSL system will be installed on a 174,000m3 LNG Carrier (Hull number 2411), being built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) at its Okpo ship yard, Goeje Island, South Korea, for Teekay shipping Limited.

Odin, Kwon of DSME shipyard, said: “As one of the world leaders in the supply of LNG carriers and Floating Regasification and Storage Units (FSRUs), we recognise that the SeaTechnikTM SSL is vital to the performance of our customers’ vessels as a trading asset.”

The majority of the world’s LNG cargo fleet and terminals are equipped with SSL technology, a system for communicating the emergency shutdown (ESD) signals, telephone and process data required when cargo transfer is undertaken from ship-to -shore and from shore-to-ship.

David Glendinning, President, Teekay Gas Services, said: “Our business is the safe, efficient transport of LNG for our customers. The SSL is a mission critical system in the cargo transfer process. Each of our vessels is also backed by Trelleborg’s Fleet Support Service which ensures an expert is always at the end of the phone or on email, 24/7.”

Trelleborg views the support service as equally important to the technology itself. A ship costing many tens of thousands of dollars per day to run, and carrying a cargo worth several million dollars, is an expensive asset to have inactive because the SSL interface cannot be connected to transfer the LNG cargo. Trelleborg’s SeatechnikTM SSL technology, and importantly, 24/7 service to test, maintain and repair equipment has a proven track record in making sure this will not happen.

The primary role of the SeaTechnikTM SSL-ESD is to ensure secure ESD signalling to mutually shut-down ship and shore pumping and transfer systems in the event of an abnormal condition or emergency.

The SSL-ESD helps avoid damaging surge pressures that could lead to spillages of cryogenic liquid, which could in turn, compromise the hull integrity through ‘cold-cracking’. The SSL, which should be ATEX, IECEx and SIL 2 certified, handles the ESD, telephony, process information and mooring load monitor data.

While international regulations require ships and terminals to have two independent links available, and also present a minimum of one system for compatibility requirements for passing along mutual ESD signals between ship and shore, the Seatechnik™ SSL system can handle all known types of links from fiber optic to electric (Pyle National, Miyaki, ITT Cannon and “SIGTTO style connectors” and pneumatic.

While a variety of different solutions were used up to the late nineties, the SeaTechnik™ integrated SSL assured full compatibility between the ship and any of the main systems installed at terminals around the world.

Richard Hepworth, President of Trelleborg’s marine systems operation, said: “We are proud of our track record in customer service and innovation. Teekay and DSME have been key customers for us since the introduction of our first SSL product 15 years ago. Innovation is an essential part of who we are and we have constantly evolved our technology, from the first analogue systems, to the latest digital systems controlling complex Floating Regasification and Storage Units (FSRU) and LNG fuelling for marine vessels – which include full process data transfer between vessels and terminals.”

In line with this continuous innovation, Trelleborg recently announced a new product development at Gastech in Singpaore and KorMarine in Korea. The Integrated Ship Shore Link (SSL) and Emergency Shutdown System (ESDS) combines two key systems into one cabinet. Shipyards benefit from a simplified single cabinet solution, replacing the three cabinet footprint currently used. This reduces both space and installation requirements, and subsequently, cost. For ship owners, the new system provides improved operator feedback on ESD events and also maintenance diagnostics to view.

Richard Hepworth continues, “In such an important market that has seen many SSL suppliers come and go, often leaving customers exposed due to lack of support, we are proud of the fact the Trelleborg has invested for the long term and the reward is the 600 SSL milestone.”