{"id":100060,"date":"2026-10-26T08:19:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T08:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/?p=100060"},"modified":"2026-10-26T08:19:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T08:19:14","slug":"what-is-an-lng-carrier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/what-is-an-lng-carrier","title":{"rendered":"What Is an LNG Carrier? How Gas Ships Carry Liquefied Natural Gas"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"chb-post\">\n\n<p class=\"chb-updated\">Last updated: 26 October 2026 &middot; By Steve Joury, cargo trip advisor at CargoHolidays<\/p>\n\n<p class=\"chb-lede\"><strong>An LNG carrier is a specialised tanker that carries liquefied natural gas, cooled to about &minus;162&deg;C so it shrinks to roughly 1\/600th of its volume as a gas.<\/strong> These high-tech ships are among the most expensive cargo vessels built. Here&rsquo;s how they work.<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"chb-cta-bar\">\n<a class=\"chb-btn\" href=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/anfrage-fur-eine-frachtschiffreise\/\">Find my voyage &rarr;<\/a>\n<a class=\"chb-btn chb-btn--ghost\" href=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/freight-ship-types-of-cargo-ships\/\">Types of cargo ships<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"chb-keyfacts\">\n<p class=\"chb-keyfacts-title\">Key facts at a glance<\/p>\n<ul><li>LNG is natural gas cooled to <strong>about &minus;162&deg;C<\/strong>.<\/li><li>Liquefying gas reduces its volume about <strong>600 times<\/strong>.<\/li><li>Typical LNG carriers hold around <strong>170,000&ndash;180,000 m&sup3;<\/strong>.<\/li><li>Tanks are either <strong>membrane<\/strong> type or <strong>spherical (Moss)<\/strong>.<\/li><li>A little cargo &lsquo;boils off&rsquo; each day and is often used as fuel.<\/li><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n<nav class=\"chb-toc\" aria-label=\"Contents\">\n<p class=\"chb-toc-title\">In this guide<\/p>\n<ol><li><a href=\"#what-is-an-lng-carrier\">What is an LNG carrier?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#membrane-vs-moss-tanks\">Membrane vs Moss tanks<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#sizes-of-lng-carriers\">Sizes of LNG carriers<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#boil-off-gas\">Boil-off gas<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#can-you-travel-on-an-lng-carrier\">Can you travel on an LNG carrier?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#faq\">H\u00e4ufig gestellte Fragen<\/a><\/li><\/ol>\n<\/nav>\n\n<h2 id=\"what-is-an-lng-carrier\">What is an LNG carrier?<\/h2>\n<p><strong>What is an LNG carrier?<\/strong> It&rsquo;s a gas tanker built to move liquefied natural gas from export terminals to import terminals around the world. The cargo is kept at extremely low temperature in heavily insulated tanks at near-atmospheric pressure. Without these ships, gas could only travel by pipeline.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"chb-figure\"><img src=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/AdobeStock_330948268.jpeg\" alt=\"What is an LNG carrier &ndash; gas carrier ship crossing the ocean\" title=\"What is an LNG carrier &ndash; gas carrier ship crossing the ocean\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1111\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"><figcaption>LNG carriers move liquefied natural gas between continents.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"membrane-vs-moss-tanks\">Membrane vs Moss tanks<\/h2>\n<table><thead><tr><th>Design<\/th><th>How it looks<\/th><th>Notes<\/th><\/tr><\/thead><tbody>\n<tr><td>Membrane<\/td><td>Box-like hull with a flat trunk deck<\/td><td>Thin stainless or invar membranes inside insulation; most common today<\/td><\/tr>\n<tr><td>Moss (spherical)<\/td><td>Giant domes rising above the deck<\/td><td>Self-supporting aluminium spheres; very recognisable<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table>\n<h2 id=\"sizes-of-lng-carriers\">Sizes of LNG carriers<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Small-scale LNG carriers:<\/strong> under 40,000 m&sup3;, for regional and bunkering trades.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Conventional:<\/strong> about 125,000&ndash;180,000 m&sup3;; today&rsquo;s standard is around 174,000 m&sup3;.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Q-Flex and Q-Max:<\/strong> up to about 266,000 m&sup3;, built for Qatar&rsquo;s exports.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>New LNG carriers are very expensive &ndash; see <a href=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/how-much-does-a-container-ship-cost\/\">how much ships cost<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"chb-figure\"><img src=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/what-is-an-lng-carrier-infographic-cargoholidays.jpg\" alt=\"What is an LNG carrier infographic\" title=\"What is an LNG carrier infographic\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\"><figcaption>LNG carriers at a glance.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 id=\"boil-off-gas\">Boil-off gas<\/h2>\n<p>Even with superb insulation, a small amount of LNG warms and turns back into gas each day. This &ldquo;boil-off gas&rdquo; is usually burned as fuel in the ship&rsquo;s engines or re-liquefied on board, so very little is wasted. Modern LNG carriers often use dual-fuel engines &ndash; see <a href=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/cargo-ship-engine\/\">cargo ship engines<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"can-you-travel-on-an-lng-carrier\">Can you travel on an LNG carrier?<\/h2>\n<p>No &ndash; like oil tankers, LNG carriers don&rsquo;t take paying passengers. To experience life on a working cargo ship, choose a container or ro-ro ship. See <a href=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/shipping-lines-that-take-passengers\/\">shipping lines that take passengers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"chb-tip\"><strong>Tip:<\/strong> Spot a Moss-type LNG carrier by its row of huge white domes &ndash; unmistakable from the deck of a passing freighter.<\/div>\n\n<section class=\"chb-related\" aria-label=\"Verwandte Anleitungen\">\n<h2 id=\"related-guides\">Related cargo ship travel guides<\/h2>\n<div class=\"chb-grid\"><a class=\"chb-card\" href=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/what-is-an-oil-tanker\/\"><span class=\"chb-card-kicker\">Ships<\/span><span class=\"chb-card-title\">What is an oil tanker?<\/span><span class=\"chb-card-more\">Read guide &rarr;<\/span><\/a><a class=\"chb-card\" href=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/freight-ship-types-of-cargo-ships\/\"><span class=\"chb-card-kicker\">Ships<\/span><span class=\"chb-card-title\">Types of cargo ships<\/span><span class=\"chb-card-more\">Read guide &rarr;<\/span><\/a><a class=\"chb-card\" href=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/cargo-ship-engine\/\"><span class=\"chb-card-kicker\">Ships<\/span><span class=\"chb-card-title\">How big is a cargo ship engine?<\/span><span class=\"chb-card-more\">Read guide &rarr;<\/span><\/a><a class=\"chb-card\" href=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/largest-ports-in-the-world\/\"><span class=\"chb-card-kicker\">Ports<\/span><span class=\"chb-card-title\">Die gr\u00f6\u00dften H\u00e4fen der Welt<\/span><span class=\"chb-card-more\">Read guide &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n<h2 id=\"faq\">H\u00e4ufig gestellte Fragen<\/h2>\n<div class=\"chb-faq\">\n<h3>What is an LNG carrier?<\/h3>\n<p>A specialised tanker that carries liquefied natural gas cooled to about &minus;162&deg;C.<\/p><h3>Why is natural gas liquefied for shipping?<\/h3>\n<p>Liquefying gas shrinks its volume about 600 times, making it practical to ship.<\/p><h3>How much LNG does a carrier hold?<\/h3>\n<p>Typically around 170,000 to 180,000 cubic metres; the largest hold about 266,000.<\/p><h3>What is boil-off gas?<\/h3>\n<p>LNG that warms and turns back into gas during the voyage, usually burned as fuel.<\/p><h3>Can passengers travel on LNG ships?<\/h3>\n<p>No. LNG carriers don&rsquo;t take paying passengers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"chb-booking\">\n<p class=\"chb-booking-title\">Sail on a working cargo ship<\/p>\n<p>Container and ro-ro ships carry a few passengers. Tell us where you&rsquo;d like to go.<\/p>\n<a class=\"chb-btn chb-btn--big\" href=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/anfrage-fur-eine-frachtschiffreise\/\">Find my voyage &rarr;<\/a>\n<p class=\"chb-booking-small\">Free, no-obligation quote &middot; Reply within 48 hours &middot; <a href=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/frag-den-kapitan\/\">Fragen Sie den Kapit\u00e4n<\/a> &middot; <a href=\"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wie-zu-gehen-fur-fracht-kreuzfahrt\/\">How booking works<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\n    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n    \"@type\": \"FAQPage\",\n    \"mainEntity\": [\n        {\n            \"@type\": \"Question\",\n            \"name\": \"What is an LNG carrier?\",\n            \"acceptedAnswer\": {\n                \"@type\": \"Answer\",\n                \"text\": \"A specialised tanker that carries liquefied natural gas cooled to about &minus;162&deg;C.\"\n            }\n        },\n        {\n   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a.chb-btn{width:100%;text-align:center}}\n<\/style>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last updated: 26 October 2026 &middot; By Steve Joury, cargo trip advisor at CargoHolidays An LNG carrier is a specialised tanker that carries liquefied natural gas, cooled to about &minus;162&deg;C so it shrinks to roughly 1\/600th of its volume as a gas. These high-tech ships are among the most expensive cargo vessels built. Here&rsquo;s how [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100010,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single3.php","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[118],"tags":[1796,1795,1742],"yst_prominent_words":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100060"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100060"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100060\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100061,"href":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100060\/revisions\/100061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100060"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100060"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100060"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cargoholidays.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=100060"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}