The energy giant's 600,000-ton megaships will process natural gas and shrug off typhoons
Posted 10.09.2009 at 3:43 pm
11 Comments
Monster Ship: I drink your milkshake Shell
The Floating Liquid Natural Gas (FLNG) ships would weigh in at 600,000 metric tons and extend 480 meters long, the largest ships ever built. The Register reports that only the decommissioned French Batillus-class tankers could claim being a tad larger by an alternative gross tonnage method, but adds that the FLNG ships still win out by most measures.
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Science, Jeremy Hsu, energy, FLNG, Floating Liquid Natural Gas, gas, gas fields, megaship, shellSuch a monster ship would be able to reach "stranded" gas fields far out in the oceans, whereas usual operations require long undersea pipelines to reach the gas fields. The mobile gas processing planet also has the advantage of not going obsolete when gas fields run dry. First stop: the Prelude and Concerto gas fields off the northwestern coast of Australia.
Shell has yet to make a final investment decision on the monster ships. But future demand from hungry energy consumers seems likely to drive Shell and other energy companies to continue expanding their operations. And besides, such a megaship would sure beat the old Exxon Valdez as the future Smoker headquarters in Waterworld.
[via The Register]
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I DRINK IT UP!
but but but how do you have the old guy in the boat with the stick measuring the oil? He has the best line in the whole thing you cant have him with cng.
That ship is HUGE! It weighs six times an aircraft carrier... I could not imagine the size... MASSIVE!
I wish they'd included a picture of, like... how big it was vs. other objects we know the size of. like vs. an aircraft carrier, or a sideways empire state building, or the titanic, or such and such. as it stands I can only imagine it's massiveness, but the size of it probably just flies right over my head without causing as much impact as it might :P
Take a look at the Taipei 101 building, it comes in at 509m. This thing is going to massive!
Last post deleted i guess, anyways this is a render of the ship next to a football field.
"/tinypic.com/r/efkmu0/4"
Perspective:
- 480 meters is over a quarter of a mile long.
- Nearly five and a quarter football fields long.
- It would take fifteen full minutes to walk from one end of the ship to the other.
- If it were vertical and you dropped a ball from the top, it would take 9.897 seconds to reach the bottom (thank you WolframAlpha).
- The Empire State Building is *only* 381 meters tall.
Yeah. It's big.
and they think melting ice caps are the only reason for rising sea levels!
"They can also safely ignore nature's wrath" ehh..I've heard that somewhere from another titanic water vessel.. what was it called?
@ animemaster "4 more feet of the black stuff!" Lol
But can a boatload of Somalia pirates take one over?
WOW! This thing is gonna drink diesel like crazy to run everything.