LNG fuelled bulk carrier design developed in China
Lloyd’s Register has provided approval in principle (AIP) for the new ‘Clean Sky’ bulk carrier design incorporating an LNG-as-fuel system. COSCO Shipyard, Greek owner Golden Union and Lloyd’s Register started the project in June 2011 to investigate the potential to develop a commercially viable bulk carrier design based on an existing COSCO conventional design, but employing gas powered propulsion systems, SinoShipNews reports.
The ‘Clean Sky’ design builds in flexibility by enabling owners to choose dual, or tri-fuel engines able to burn, heavy fuel oil (HFO) or diesel, as well as LNG.
Nick Brown, Lloyd’s Register’s Area General Manager and Marine Manager, Greater China said: “This news moves the industry far beyond the concept stage. A ‘Clean Sky’ ship could be built next year. We have addressed the technology issues; the approval in principle that we issued today only comes after exhaustive risk investigations into the gas containment, bunkering systems and performance assessment.”
Various containment systems and configurations were considered by the project team, but the final choice was for a single, 1,160 cu m type ‘C’ tank that sits aft on the port side.
COSCO Shipyard Group’s Head of Engineering, Zhan Shu Ming, commented: “COSCO Shipyard Group has a strong sense of social responsibility. We are innovating to help shipowners meet new IMO emissions and performance requirements. Society is looking for alternatives to current fuels, which are also rising in price. The increased availability of gas reserves and the emissions benefits are driving interest in LNG as an alternative fuel. With COSCO Shipyard Group’s depth of experience in building Kamsarmax bulk carriers, we are now very well placed to build bulk carriers with the new gas technology. Our development in LNG as an alternative fuel technology will not be only limited to the application to bulk carrier designs, but also for other ship types. The current achievement is only the beginning of our research and development for LNG as an alternative fuel and the COSCO Shipyard Group, as a pioneer in this new technology, is committed to even more in-depth research in the future.”