Optimal Fleet Composition for Marine Transport of Compressed Natural Gas from Stranded Fields

In this paper, a decision-based scheme is developed to improve the competitiveness and efficiency of compressed natural gas (CNG) shipping. A database of CNG ships of different size and speed is built off-line at conceptual design level, which provides technical and economic information sufficient to optimize the fleet composition. This goal is reached by generating a number of feasible fleets from the logistics viewpoint and ranking them by giving priority to CNG shipping tariff. To this end, a built-in code is implemented which integrates the logistics strategy with the menu of CNG ships to solve the decision-making model. A case study shows that usage of the proposed scheme facilitates correct decisions aimed at reducing the overall capital investment and improves the reliability and economic efficiency of the CNG shipping system.