NYK has ordered its fifth liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) dual-fuel very large LPG/liquefied ammonia gas carrier (VLGC) from Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI).
The ship will be constructed at KHI Sakaide Works and delivered in 2026.
This vessel will be the seventh in NYK’s fleet of LPG-fuelled carriers and the fifth in a new type of vessel that is also capable of carrying ammonia, thanks to separate cargo tanks designed to carry both at the same time.
The ship will have an LPG dual-fuel engine and a shaft generator that can generate electricity during the voyage by using the rotation of the shaft that connects the main engine to the propeller.
This will enable the diesel generator to be turned off during normal navigation, allowing for the use of LPG fuel for full navigation, except for a small amount of pilot fuel.
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When LPG is used as fuel, the exhaust gas from the vessel will contain at least 95 per cent less sulphur oxide (SOx) and 20 per cent less CO2 compared to NYK’s conventional VLGCs using heavy oil fired engines.
According to NYK, this new VLGC will comply with the SOx Global Cap regulations that were tightened from January 2020 and with the IMO’s Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) Phase 3 regulations.
The vessel is expected to be given notations by Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) as a VLGC that has a preparatory design in accordance with the guidelines issued by ClassNK, so that this vessel may use ammonia fuel in the future.
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