For decades, the international liquefied gas shipping sector has relied on LESER Safety Valves. Apart from specialized LNG vessels designed to carry these energy sources, more and more ships of all types use LNG as fuel.
Over the past 25 years, the liquefied gas sector has become a main pillar of the global energy supply. Driven by the demand for flexible, clean and safe energy, substantial capital has been invested in liquefaction plants, liquefied gas carriers and import terminals. At LESER, this trend arrives mainly in the form of orders from Europe and Germany.
LNG and LPG carriers, whether operating on inland waterways or ocean routes, are often fitted with LESER Safety Valves. While past installations were primarily found on piping, tanks and refrigeration equipment as well as loading and discharging systems, the increasing use of LNG and LPG as ship fuel has expanded the range of applications.
Advanced tankers, cruise ships and ferries often have dual-fuel or pure gas-powered engines, which are likewise often protected by LESER Safety Valves. Today, several hundred vessels are cruising the world’s oceans with LESER valves on board to protect their cryogenic (extremely cold) systems operating at -162 °C. And the number keeps growing. According to the ship classification society DNV Maritime, 87 new ships with LNG propulsion were ordered during the first half of 2025 alone, 81 of them are containerships. An additional 13 LNG bunkering vessels are on order, which are needed to refuel LNG-powered ships.

All safety-related components on board, including safety valves, must be approved by a ship classification society (also referred to as "class"). Similar to technical certification experts in land-based installations, class societies monitor compliance with compulsory standards. LESER has been cooperating with all major European, American and Asian classification societies for decades. The class to perform the in-factory approval is chosen by the respective shipowner.
Individual or type approvals by class societies are an indispensable prerequisite for valve delivery to the customer. Despite the unified global rules imposed by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), classes aren’t equal in all aspects. While safety valves for cargo transport are inspected based on the International Gas Carrier Code (IGC-Code), fuel systems are subject to the stipulations of the International Code of Safety for Ships using Gases or Other Low-Flashpoint Fuels (IGF-Code).