Sweden’s Gothia Tanker Alliance has ordered four dual-fuel intermediate product/chemical tankers with LNG propulsion from Avic Dingheng Shipbuilding in China.
No contract price was disclosed by the alliance, which is comprised of partners Furetank, Älvtank and Thun Tankers.
Furetank will own two of the 16,300-dwt newbuildings and Älvtank and Thun Tankers will each own one of the new vessels, which will be delivered from 2018 to 2019.
The vessels will be commercially managed by Furetank Chartering as part of the Gothia Tanker Alliance, a statement said today.
The tankers will have cargo capacity of 20,000 m3 and will be built to a design developed by FKAB with Furetank.
The engines will have dual-fuel/LNG propulsion and will be able to run off the liquefied gas while in port, as well as use it to produce inert gas.
The dual-fuel design aims to reduce the tankers’ CO2 emissions by 50%, NOx by 84%, SOx by 99% and particulate matter by 99%, compared with using conventional marine fuels. This satisfies the Tier III NOx emission standards for ships within IMO emission control areas (ECAs), which will come into effect in 2016.
The 149.9-metre-long tankers will also feature power production with floating frequency, and will be fitted with a battery back-up system to minimise the use of the auxiliary engines.
“It has been very interesting and developing for Furetank together with FKAB to create a design for future product/chemical tankers. These vessels will be designed to meet all known future demands both from governments, the industry and from our customers,” Lars Höglund, CEO of Furetank, commented.
The newbuildings will also have a ballast water cleaning system installed onboard, and will have ice class 1A notation.
