Swedish shipping company orders LNG vessel

The Swedish shipping company Erik Thun A.B. has awarded a contract to shipyard Ferus Smit to build a cargo vessel powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG). The contract offers an option of an additional two units. The first vessel will be delivered in autumn 2015 from the shipyard in Westerbroek, Groningen.

The shipping company has a strong market position in Northern Europe and the Baltic area. To further strengthen the company’s position as an environmentally friendly fleet with the new SECA rules coming into force in 2015, Thun believes using LNG will be the way forward.

Commenting on the contract award, Ferus Smit stated: “For Ferus Smit shipyards it is a great challenge to build the first LNG powered short-sea dry cargo vessels to date. Many concepts and studies have been above the market already, but it will be down to the long-term cooperation between yard and ship owner to work out viable solutions that can be profitable in daily use.”

Key vessel specifications

• The ships will be bulk oriented general cargo vessels, weighing 5800 dwt.
• They will have the option to convert into self-unloaders.
• The vessels will be of Ice-Class 1A and suitable for year-round Baltic service.
• The vessels will be equipped with a Wartsila dual fuel main engine and a pressurized LNG tank enabling round trips of approximately 2 weeks.
• Lloyds Register will carry out classification of the vessels.

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/lng-shipping/17022014/ferus_smit_to_build_lng_powered_cargo_vessel_173/