On the afternoon of March 31, 2023, the first 40000 cubic meters medium-sized fully cooled liquefied petroleum gas (MGC) vessel "MIRAI" in China was delivered in Shanghai. The vessel was independently developed and built by Jiangnan Shipbuilding, a subsidiary of China Shipping Group. The delivery of the vessel achieved China's "zero" breakthrough in this ship type, further improving the construction capacity of a full spectrum liquefied petroleum gas ship built in China.

The ship can carry both liquefied petroleum gas and petrochemical products such as liquid ammonia and vinyl chloride monomer (VCM). The ship has a total length of 180 meters and a moulded width of 30 meters. It is designed and built with the concept of "energy saving, environmental protection, and intelligence". It uses a dual fuel main engine of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to meet low-carbon requirements. The bow line adopts a microsphere shaped ball bow independently developed and optimized by Jiangnan Shipbuilding, and is equipped with energy-saving rudder balls, making the speed and fuel consumption indicators reach international leading levels.

It is understood that there are currently about 40 ships engaged in the ammonia trade worldwide, and due to the limitations of port equipment scale, the ship type is mainly medium-sized fully cooled liquefied gas (MGC) ships with smaller sizes. Although the current market is relatively small, the shipping industry generally places high hopes on ammonia. On the one hand, ammonia, as a carbon neutral fuel, is expected to become the mainstream choice for future marine energy, and ammonia fueled marine engines are expected to come out in the next two years; On the other hand, relying on its advantages in transportation costs, safety performance, and other aspects, "green ammonia" produced from renewable resources as the best carrier of hydrogen can meet the use and storage needs of hydrogen, and the transportation demand for liquid ammonia will grow rapidly in the future.

The newly launched 40000 cubic meters medium-sized fully cooled liquefied petroleum gas ship can carry liquid ammonia, which can be directly used as fuel. After the technology of ammonia fueled marine engine is mature, the ship can smoothly transition to ammonia fueled power. Jiangnan Shipbuilding said that in 2023, it was focusing on the research and development of ultra large ammonia transport ships (VLAC), and conducted in-depth research on the ammonia fuel gas supply system, overall layout, risk analysis, and other aspects.