Why Does This Ship Have 5 Giant Balls? | The Story Behind LNG Carriers

For decades, LNG carriers have faced an extraordinary engineering challenge: how do you safely transport enormous quantities of liquefied natural gas at approximately −162°C?

The LNG carrier AL JASRA represents one of the most recognizable answers to that question.

Its five enormous spherical tanks are part of the MOSS LNG containment system. Their distinctive shape is not simply an unusual visual feature—it reflects an engineering approach designed for the extreme conditions involved in transporting LNG at cryogenic temperatures.

A sphere distributes internal pressure evenly, while its symmetrical shape allows thermal expansion and contraction to occur uniformly. The tanks are also structurally independent from the ship’s hull, making the five giant spheres visible above the deck one of the defining characteristics of MOSS-type LNG carriers.

From the air, this unusual design becomes especially striking. What initially looks like five giant balls on the deck reveals a much deeper story about pressure, temperature, structural engineering, and the challenge of carrying one of the world’s most important energy cargoes across the ocean.

I originally filmed AL JASRA from the air with a DJI Mavic 3. With my THE STORY BEHIND series, I wanted to return to this footage and go beyond simply showing the ship—to explore why these enormous tanks are spherical and the engineering thinking behind their shape.

Some engineering illustrations, animations, and visualizations in this documentary are educational interpretations created to explain the underlying principles. They are not intended to represent exact engineering designs, structural analyses, or proprietary technical details of the MOSS LNG containment system.

This is an independent documentary and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the vessel owner, operator, shipyard, or technology developer.

Filmed by: OCEANCRAFTS Motion Gallery

Aircraft: DJI Mavic 3

Camera: Hasselblad L2D-20c