Taizhou Yard to construct Kanfer LNG bunker vessels
Published by Sarah Smith,
Assistant Editor
LNG Industry,
Kanfer Shipping AS (Kanfer), the Norway-based shipping company focusing on small scale LNG sea transportation and LNG bunkering, has signed a shipbuilding contract with China-based Taizhou Wuzhou Shipbuilding Industry Co. Ltd (Taizhou) for the construction of its first two small scale LNG bunker and distribution ships with 6000 m3 tank capacity each. Kanfer had signed an LOI with Taizhou in January earlier this year. The vessels are scheduled for delivery by 2H23, with the option to build additional vessels.
“Taizhou has deep experience in building small scale LNG carriers and Kanfer’s technological partner, CGR Arctic Marine AS, has worked closely for years with the yard. This relationship and their competitiveness have made Taizhou an ideal choice for construction of Kanfer’s 6000 m3 capacity small scale vessels,” says Founder and CEO Stig Hagen of Kanfer Shipping.
CGR’s concept design for these two LNG bunker and distribution ships including their specialised cargo and gas process plants, addresses the immediate industry need for more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly LNG bunkering. Key features include:
- Mono-tank design, with simple arrangement and minimal boil-off.
- Pure gas electric power production combined with hybrid battery technology.
- Lowest possible environmental footprint.
- Extreme manoeuvrability with Azipull thrusters and bow thruster combined with joystick operation.
- 500 m3 MDO cargo tank.
The above technical features allow for both CAPEX and OPEX savings:
- Reduced crew size.
- Lower operational and maintenance costs.
- Minimal boil-off.
- Significant CAPEX savings due to LNG-fuelled vs dual-fuelled design.
These savings result in lower day-rates for customers while at the same time offering excellent functionality and clear environmental benefits.
Taizhou Yard has extensive experience with building gas carriers. CGR Founder, Capt. Bård Nordberg, has been leading the design and construction of 10 small scale gas carriers at the shipyard, including several LNG vessels. Such extensive shipbuilding experience is unique in this space, and Kanfer is excited to leverage this.
“This announcement represents an important step for Kanfer in realising its goal to provide cost-efficient and environmentally friendly bunker vessels. Having strong co-operation with blue-chip shipping companies and LNG terminal owners has positioned Kanfer to move forward today with these two new LNG bunkering vessels,” said Mr. Hagen.
“This is just the start”, continues Mr. Hagen. “We will be building a large fleet of small and medium scale LNG distribution and bunkering ships. We see a rapidly expanding market for LNG bunker vessels as the world maritime industry continues to pivot towards its decarbonisation goals through LNG. The current very modest orderbook for new LNG bunkering vessels makes our decision well-timed, especially now that equivalent, new-built vessels to be delivered in 2022 and 2023 have already been chartered out. The need for the emergence of new LNG bunkering centres will indeed be critical as the trading pattern for gas-driven vessels will be global and very diversified. The existing hubs will also need to expand to cater for growing demand and for the requirement of different sizes of bunkering and distribution ships that Kanfer is in a position to build. This is one of the reasons why Kanfer is confident that the timing is advantageous. The designed for purpose vessels offers lower CAPEX as well as OPEX and will be a competitive LNG bunkering vessel in the market.”
Read the article online at: https://www.lngindustry.com/lng-shipping/27052021/taizhou-yard-to-construct-kanfer-lng-bunker-vessels/
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