Indonesia-based Pelayaran Bahtera Adhiguna has selected American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) to class its compressed natural gas (CNG) vessel, which is claimed to be the first of its kind in the world.

Designed by China’s CIMC Ocean Engineering Design & Research Institute, the CNG carrier will be built by Qingdao Wuchuan Heavy Industry at its shipyard in northern China.

The 110m-long ship will sail at speeds of 14k and have the capacity to carry 2,200m³ of fuel. It is expected to be deployed to transport natural gas from Indonesian fields to the island of Lombok.

The Indonesian flagged-vessel will be dual-classed with the class society Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia, according to ABS.

"As society’s demands continue to drive the search for cleaner forms of energy, new methods of marine transport…are being required."

ABS chairman and CEO Christopher Wiernicki said: "As society’s demands continue to drive the search for cleaner forms of energy, new methods of marine transport, propulsion and processing for gas are being required.

"ABS remains committed to being on the leading edge of that technical evolution, supporting industry and regulators as they navigate through the challenges."

ABS has recently formed a new global gas solutions team, which includes a multi-disciplinary group of technical experts.

The team is responsible for addressing gas-related projects, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) transportation, the use of LNG and LPG as fuel and the growing number of floating LNG projects.

Pelayaran Bahtera Adhiguna is a subsidiary of Indonesia’s state-owned power firm Perusahaan Listrik Negara.