Jiangnan Shipyard has developed a new design for a groundbreaking multigas newbuilding that looks set to become the world’s biggest ethane carrier.

The Chinese state-owned shipbuilder has drawn up a concept for a 150,000-cbm ship that will be fitted with four GTT Mark III membrane tanks for transporting ethane from US producers to China.

The 274-metre-long, 42-metre-wide vessel has been designed with a shallow draught that will allow it to navigate the Neches River in the southern US state of Texas, where a new ethane export facility is being built.