Navigator Holdings Ltd., established in 1997 as an Isle of Man company limited, is to build and operate a fleet of five semi-refrigerated, ethylene liquefied gas tankers. The company is the owner and operator of the largest fleet of light LNG carriers in the world. It provides international and regional sea transportation services for liquefied petroleum gas, and petrochemical gases and ammonia for energy companies, industrial users and commodity traders. These gases are transported in the form of liquefaction by application cooling and pressurization, reducing the volume by 900 times depending on the cargo, making their transportation more efficient and economical. According to Drewry's report, the demand for seaborne transportation of these liquefied gases will continue to grow, because of energy and petrochemical market developments, especially the increase in shale oil and natural gas development in the United States, seaborne transportation is often the only, or most cost-effective, mode of transportation in major import and export markets.
