Press Release - April 2007
LNG Valve Orders Secured
Bestobell LNG, the leading UK based cryogenic valve manufacturer, has secured a multi million dollar order book for the supply of fire-safe needle globe valves for twenty LNG vessels currently under construction or on order.
The orders are from the world’s major builders of LNG cargo carriers; Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering of Korea as well as Mitsui Engineering Services of Japan. In total these orders mean Bestobell LNG will be delivering 10,000 valves over the next 3 years for the 20 ships. These ships will be Owned and operated by many of the major European, American and Japanese players in the LNG shipping industry – APMoller of Denmark, Pronav of Germany, the J5 consortium from Japan, Teekay from Canada, and MES for the Shell Sakhalin project. Most of these ships will be supplying LNG from the massive LNG liquefaction terminal at Ras Laffan in Qatar to Europe, Japan and America. Bestobell LNG’s success in this international market is thought to result from three key issues.
Firstly to date Bestobell LNG is the only valve manufacturer that has delivered every set of valves to the LNG ship-building industry 100% on time, while time and again other valve suppliers have caused delays to ship builds.
Secondly, Bestobell has 40 years of expertise in manufacturing cryogenic valves. Over 5 years ago Bestobell developed, at the request of BP Shipping, their fire-safe cryogenic needle globe valve range to replace the ball valves that had traditionally been used on the sampling and purging lines of LNG cargo carriers. Not only are they more suitable for the application, but they are also lower cost than the equivalent top entry ball valve.
Finally there is Bestobell LNG’s reputation for honesty and integrity - for the ship-owner and charterer it is extremely important that they know that the valves will operate safely and effectively over the life of the ship and that the supplier will be there to support his ships for the long term, wherever they are in the world. Bestobell LNG has built up an excellent reputation for supporting the product in use through the provision of efficient and cost-effective servicing and soft part overhaul. . Bestobell LNG is part of the $45m sales Flow Group, a successful British business focused totally on supplying valves to the energy industry.
According to Herr Braun, managing director of Pronav LNG Shipping of Germany “Our selection of Bestobell LNG valves was made on the basis of the product design as well as Bestobell’s reputation for on-time delivery and price competitiveness.”
“This vindicates our approach to quality and design” said Bestobell LNG director Andrew Brown “once built these ships have to deliver reliability in operation. I believe our products contribute to their operational longevity. “
As well as the supply of needle globe valves to the LNG cargo carriers, Bestobell LNG supply a range of globe valves and check valves and have just introduced the new Float Level Isolation Valve (FLIV). FLIV overcomes the problems associated with the current solution (a horizontally-mounted cryogenic gate valve) and also reduces the cost. The company will be exhibiting at Gastech 2006 in December.
For more information visit www.bestobell-lng.com
