GERMANY's Hapag-Lloyd has booked the HFO-to-LNG conversion of its 15,000 TEU 'LNG-ready' Sajir, acquired in its 2017 take-over of UASC, at China's Huarun Dadong Shipyard.
The project to convert the existing MAN Energy Solutions' ME-GI engine, booked for May 2020, is expected to take 105 days and cost US$30 million will be the largest containership engine conversion to date.
Anthony Firmin, Hapag Lloyd's COO, affirmed that if the pilot project is completed successfully, as expected, another 16 large LNG-ready container ships acquired in the UASC take-over are likely to undergo similar conversions. New ships ordered by the company in the future are also likely to be powered by LNG, according to Colchester's Seatrade Maritime News.
The project should result in carbon dioxide savings of between 15-25 per cent - probably around 23 per cent.
The ship's conversion will mean the loss of about 300 TEU in cargo carrying capacity but the conversion is expected to yield substantial benefits, both financially and environmentally. LNG prices are continuing to fall, Mr Firmin pointed out, and may well continue a downward path.
Captain Richard von Berlepsch, Hapag-Lloyd's managing director, fleet management, stressed the significance of the project. Not only is it the largest engine conversion of any containership so far, he said, but it will also demonstrate that retrofits are possible.
Hapag-Lloyd is funding the conversion itself, without support from the European Union, because the ship is deployed for more than 50 per cent of its time outside European waters. Although the vessel, classed by DNV GL, will fly the German flag and be manned by an all-German crew, the project does not qualify for German Government grants under current regulations. These are currently under review.
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The project to convert the existing MAN Energy Solutions' ME-GI engine, booked for May 2020, is expected to take 105 days and cost US$30 million will be the largest containership engine conversion to date.
Anthony Firmin, Hapag Lloyd's COO, affirmed that if the pilot project is completed successfully, as expected, another 16 large LNG-ready container ships acquired in the UASC take-over are likely to undergo similar conversions. New ships ordered by the company in the future are also likely to be powered by LNG, according to Colchester's Seatrade Maritime News.
The project should result in carbon dioxide savings of between 15-25 per cent - probably around 23 per cent.
The ship's conversion will mean the loss of about 300 TEU in cargo carrying capacity but the conversion is expected to yield substantial benefits, both financially and environmentally. LNG prices are continuing to fall, Mr Firmin pointed out, and may well continue a downward path.
Captain Richard von Berlepsch, Hapag-Lloyd's managing director, fleet management, stressed the significance of the project. Not only is it the largest engine conversion of any containership so far, he said, but it will also demonstrate that retrofits are possible.
Hapag-Lloyd is funding the conversion itself, without support from the European Union, because the ship is deployed for more than 50 per cent of its time outside European waters. Although the vessel, classed by DNV GL, will fly the German flag and be manned by an all-German crew, the project does not qualify for German Government grants under current regulations. These are currently under review.
WORLD SHIPPING