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“大国奇迹”系列聚焦在推进中国式现代化进程中，中国如何走出一条独具特色的高质量发展之路，以十期可视化报道陆续推出饱含中国智慧的“世界之最”，本期特别关注保障天然气供给的海上“气”船。
说起造船业的荣耀与梦想，很多人可能会自然而然地想到集中了先进军事技术的航空母舰和设计装饰艺术的豪华邮轮。
但其实有一种船，与航空母舰、豪华邮轮被并称为造船工业皇冠上的“三颗明珠”，它就是本期主角——大型液化天然气运输船（liquefied natural gas, LNG, carrier）。
A large LNG carrier is a tank ship designed specifically for transporting liquefied natural gas at sea. It is widely considered in the shipbuilding industry as one of the most challenging vessels to construct, along with aircraft carriers and luxury cruise ships.
在“双碳”背景下，天然气这种清洁能源在全世界范围内呈现强劲的市场需求。
Against the backdrop of global efforts to achieve carbon neutrality, clean energy including natural gas has seen robust demand around the world.
海关总署数据显示，2021年，中国液化天然气进口量超7700万吨，同比增长约18%。国际能源署预计中国是亚洲地区天然气需求增长的主要驱动力之一，2023年中国天然气需求量将同比增加6%以上。
China imported more than 77 million tons of LNG in 2021, a surge of 18 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from the General Administration of Customs. The nation"s imports of LNG in 2023 are expected to rise more than 6 percent year-on-year, the International Energy Agency forecast in its latest Gas Market report.
由于天然气密度小，如果常温常压运输，运费无法估量。
但如果将天然气舱温度降至零下163摄氏度以下，天然气就会变成液态，体积仅有同等重量气态天然气的六百二十分之一，能极大降低运输成本，大型液化天然气运输船正是在这样的背景下迎来了快速增长。
作为供远洋运输零下163度液化天然气的专用装备，近10万吨的液化天然气要漂洋过海抵达目的地，对船舶的安全性要求极高，这种特殊的低温货物运输船是世界公认具有高技术、高可靠性、高附加值的“三高”高端重器。
Due to the special characteristics of natural gas, shipping it in liquefied state, or at a temperature below — 163 degrees Celsius, would be most cost-efficient. The size of liquefied natural gas is merely 1/620 of its gaseous state. The LNG carrier transports about 100,000 tons of LNG with special equipment and travels thousands of miles across oceans to make each delivery. Building such specialized cargo carriers requires advanced techniques, has high added value and improves the reliability level of LNG delivery.
源于极高的安全性要求，建造这样一艘“三高”船，难度极大。
以一艘17.4万方液化天然气运输船为例，全船总共有超过110万个零件，其中有6万个绝缘箱，480吨厚度仅0.7毫米的特殊殷瓦不锈钢薄膜材料——殷瓦钢，焊缝总长度达到150公里！
A 174,000-cubic-meter LNG vessel consists of more than 1.1 million components and parts. Among them are 60,000 insulating boxes and 480 tons of 0.7 mm-thick nickel-iron alloy called "invar". The total length of the weld for the invar sheet is a staggering 150 kilometers.
一艘液化天然气运输船的造价，需要10多亿元人民币，相当于两架波音737。
一艘17.4万立方米液化天然气运输船单船最大装载量在气化后约为1.08亿立方米天然气，可供北京全市居民生活用气约16天。
Building an LNG carrier costs more than 1 billion yuan — the equivalent of building two Boeing 737 planes. The maximum load of a 174,000-cubic-meter LNG carrier is about 108 million cubic meters of natural gas after gasification. This amount is equivalent to the natural gas consumption of all Beijing residents for about 16 days.
在很长一段时间里，世界大型液化天然气运输船建造市场都被日韩船企垄断。直到2008年4月，中国船舶沪东中华造船（集团）有限公司建成交付了中国首艘国产大型液化天然气运输船“大鹏昊”号。
China"s first home-built LNG carrier Dapeng Sun was delivered in April 2008 by China State Shipbuilding Corp Ltd"s Shanghai-based subsidiary Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co Ltd, ending the dominance of Japanese and South Korean shipyards in LNG carrier building.
在十数年间，沪东中华自主研发了“长青”“长健”“长安”“长兴”和“长恒”系列共5代液化天然气运输船，累计交付LNG运输装备40多艘。
Over the past decade, Hudong-Zhonghua has developed five generations of LNG carriers — the Changqing series (2004), the Changjian series (2010), the Chang"an series (2012), the Changxing series (2017). On December 16, 2021, Hudong-Zhonghua unveiled the fifth generation 174,000-cubic-meter LNG vessel from its Changheng series. The Shanghai-based shipyard has so far delivered more than 40 LNG vessels.
2022年我国船企全年承接大型液化天然气运输船订单55艘，在全球订单总量的占比超过30%，创历史新高。其中，中国船舶集团订单达49艘，合同金额超过100亿美元。就单个船厂来看，沪东中华全年订单达37艘，市场份额从2021的不足7%跃升至近21.8%。
Chinese shipyards received orders for 55 LNG ships — more than 30 percent of the world"s total — in 2022. Forty-nine of these orders came from China State Shipbuilding Corp. In terms of individual shipbuilders, Hudong-Zhonghua had the most orders at 37 last year. Its market share rose from less than 7 percent in 2021 to 21.8 percent.
“这一成绩的取得，打破了少数国家建造商对LNG运输船建造市场的规模化垄断，开启了全球气体船领域充分竞争发展的新阶段，”中国船舶工业行业协会秘书长李彦庆说。
"Such an achievement has ended the market domination that a few nations in LNG vessel building had, and kicked off a new phase in the gas carrier segment," Li Yanqing, secretary general of the China Association of the National Shipbuilding Industry was quoted as saying by People"s Daily.
能取得这样的成就，绝非一朝一夕之功，是多年来中国造船人不懈努力的结果。有理由相信，属于中国造船的奇迹故事将会不断书写全新篇章。
Such an achievement is the result of persistent efforts made by Chinese shipbuilders over the years. It is firmly believed that the magical story of Chinese shipbuilding will continue.
除英语之外，中国日报还将陆续推出法语、西班牙语和日语的视频，多语种全方位讲述海上“气”船的中国故事！敬请持续关注中国日报各媒体平台。
记者：王颖
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