Norway and Japan-based United European Car Carriers (UECC) has taken delivery of the first dual-fuel LNG pure car truck carrier (PCTC), built by Nantong Cosco KHI Ship Engineering Co., Ltd (Nacks).
The 4,000 RT unit PCTC is the first of two sister ships being built at Nacks to comply with the requirements of the North European Emission Control Areas (ECAs), for year-round operations in the Baltic Sea. The second ship is due to be delivered by the end of this year.
Dual-Fuel
The ship is built to LR 1A FS Ice Class (equivalent to 1A Super Finnish/Swedish Ice Class) and the cold countermeasures have been applied. Main propulsion for the ship is provided by a single dual-fuel slow speed 2-stroke engine type 8S50ME-C8.2-GI manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, developing 11,000 kW.
The engine is capable of operating on high-pressure LNG vapour or fuel oil, and is directly coupled to a controllable pitch propeller. When the engine is running on LNG, SOx emissions and particulate matter (PM) are dramatically decreased to almost zero, compared to conventional fuel oil only; CO2 and NOx is also considerably reduced.
Additionally, the vessel has three auxiliary 4-stroke dual-fuel engines, type W9L20DF (two sets of W9L20DF and one set of W6L20DF), manufactured by Wärtsilä, operating on low pressure LNG vapour and each developing more than 1000 kW (two sets of 1500 kW and one set of 1040 kW).
A dual-fuel auxiliary boiler is also installed and operates on low pressure LNG vapour. LNG fuel is stored in a single insulated IMO Type C storage tank of approximately 800 m3 capacity, manufactured in China from nine per cent Ni steel.
Picture by Lloyd's Register.
