Gas System News

Uzmar Shipyard in Istanbul, Turkey has launched a first-of-its-kind tractor tug for Turkish operator BOTAS.The vessel, named the Sultanhani, was launched on February 27 as the world’s first Voith propelled tractor tug with liquefied natural gas (LNG) dual fuel propulsion. It is the first of two hulls being built for BOTAS to Robert Allan Ltd.’s TRAktor V3900-DF design.The TRAktor V3900-DF builds on Robert Allan Ltd.’s experience designing both Voith tractor tugs and LNG dual fuel tugs.

Italian cargo handling systems company Gas and Heat has signed an agreement with RINA for the development of a cargo and fuel gas system for an ammonia fueled bunker vessel.Gas and Heat will develop the basic design of the system, and RINA will carry out the compliance assessment of the design as part of the wider approval in principle process.The ammonia combustion process has been extensively researched by the leading engine manufacturers and the delivery of ammonia fueled engines to shipbuilding is likely to happen within this year.Giuseppe Zagaria…

Naval architecture and marine engineering firm Glosten and Siemens Energy have selected Ballard Power Systems and Chart Industries as primary equipment vendors for their design of what will be the first hydrogen-hybrid research vessel in the world. The vessel, nominally known as the CCRV, is currently in the design phase and will be owned and operated by UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography (Scripps). Ballard Power Systems will provide the fuel cells which will help power the vessel…

A.P. Moller-Maersk's towage arm Svitzer announced it has signed a 15-year agreement to service Gastrade’s Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System (Alexandroupolis INGS) LNG terminal—the first offshore LNG project in Greece—set to become operational in the beginning of 2024. The project marks Svitzer’s entry into the Greek market.Svitzer will set up towage services and support for LNG operations at the new import terminal, including support for a floating storage regasification…

Survitec has announced a new interactive safety management solution it hopes will substantially improve onboard safety.The Safety Management and Rapid Response Technology Interface (SMARR-TI) uses a graphical monitoring interface to integrate fire detection and fire suppression systems within one system.SMARR-TI, which Survitec developed in cooperation with Turkish shipyard Tersan and Norway’s Havila Voyages, is already in operation on a pair of 15,500gt passenger ships.SMARR-TI…

Equinor's Hammerfest LNG plant in Arctic Norway suffered a compressor failure on Thursday and is expected to remain offline until May 19, Norwegian gas system company Gassco said in a regulatory note on Friday. The outage was caused by a technical problem with a heat exchanger that occurred during a restart of the plant following a one-day maintenance outage, an Equinor spokesperson said. The plant will remain offline until repairs have been carried out, the spokesperson added.

Maritime Protection, a brand of Survitec, won an order for a set of nitrogen systems for installation on an LNG-powered cruise ship. The scope of supply is for two nitrogen generators, feed-air compressors, valves, and control cabinets. Scheduled for delivery in 2025, the 51,950-gt newbuild is the first cruise ship for this Japanese owner to be built in Europe. There is an option for a second vessel. About ten LNG-fuelled cruise ships are currently in operation, with a further 25 set to join the global fleet over the next five years.Engines operating on LNG…

Work has begun to develop Greece’s first Floating Storage Regasification Unit (FSRU) at the Keppel shipyard in Singapore, with the conversion of GasLog’s DNV classed LNGC Gaslog Chelsea, recently renamed Alexandroupoli.Following conversion, FSRU Alexandroupoli will serve as an offshore storage and regasification facility and will be part of the Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System (INGS). The 155,000-cbm LNG carrier, recently reflagged to the Greek flag, is the first FSRU conversion under the Greek Flag for operation in the Aegean Sea.

Norway has deployed a specialist vessel to inspect a subsea gas pipeline to Germany because of safety concerns after suspected sabotage last month on two Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany, according to sources and data.Norway, Europe's largest gas supplier, last week put its energy sector on high alert, deploying its navy and air force to patrol offshore facilities and placing soldiers at onshore gas processing plants after the Sept. 26 Nord Stream blasts.The Havila Subsea, an oil service vessel equipped with remotely operated subsea vehicles, was deployed on Oct. 5 to survey the Europipe II pipeline that runs from the Kaarstoe gas plant in Norway to Dornum in Germany, Refinitiv vessel-tracking data shows.

Norway's Hammerfest LNG plant is now expected to restart on May 23, six days later than the previous plan and further delaying operations since a fire in 2020, Norwegian gas system manager Gassco and operator Equinor said on Monday."During the weekend, a minor fault was discovered on a compressor that needs to be rectified prior to start-up," Equinor said in a statement. Read full story"The component is now being replaced, and the stepwise process towards operations continues through the week."Europe's only large-scale LNG plant…

The kick-off ceremony for the realization of Gastrade SA's LNG FSRU facility in Alexandroupolis, Greece, was held on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, in the old Storage House of the Alexandroupolis Port Customs.Once delivered, the FSRU, with a capacity of 153,500 c.m. of LNG, will be moored in the offshore area 17.6 km southwest of the port of Alexandroupolis. It will be connected to the National Natural Gas Transmission System (NNGΤS) of Greece with a 28 km long pipeline, through which the gasified LNG will be transmitted to the markets of Greece…

Alfa Laval reports it is experiencing increased demand for solutions related to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as fuel, having seen notable orders for the Alfa Laval FCM LPG in recent months as the marine industry focuses on decarbonization. The low-flashpoint fuel supply system (LFSS) that can work seamlessly with LPG cargo handling systems.Given its lower CO2 footprint compared to traditional marine fuels, LPG is a logical step in decarbonizing the vessels that transport it, Alfa Laval said.

Classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR) said it has granted Digital Twin Ready Approval in Principle (AIP) to shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) for its Smart Ship Solution, SVESSEL CBM and S-Fugas (Samsung Fuel Gas) System.The class approval, which comes as a result of a Joint Development Project (JDP) formed earlier in the year, is SHI's first for a systems engineering approach for developing artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technology.As part of the project…

Italian firm Fratelli Cosulich Group has ordered a liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunkering vessel. The ship, which will be built in China, at the CIMC SOE shipyard, with its approximately 5,300 tons of DWT will be able to transport over 8,000 m3 of LNG and 500 m3 of MGO for bunkering. The vessel will be equipped by Wartsila, a Finland-based company specializing in the manufacture of propulsion and power generation systems for marine use with Dual Fuel technology. According to Fratelli Cosulich…

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä said it has signed a strategic partnership agreement with SAACKE, the Germany-based supplier of marine firing plants for seagoing vessels, offshore plants and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.A central feature of the agreement is a cooperation regarding safety, in particular with Inert Gas Systems (IGS) and Gas Combustion Units (GCU), Wärtsilä  said, adding that the deal will enable both partners to offer larger and more comprehensive scopes of supply…

Finnish shipbuilder Rauma Marine Constructions (RMC) revealed it has entered into three major supply contracts worth over €100 million ($117.4 million) in total for the main equipment of Pohjanmaa Class multi-purpose corvettes commissioned by the Finnish Defense Forces.The most crucial contracts for the supply of critical main equipment with long delivery times were signed during spring and summer in highly unusual circumstances, the shipbuilder said, adding that the coronavirus pandemic has posed significant challenges to numerous businesses…

Developments in marine power today are centered on ever tightening legislative mandate which increasingly aim to dramatically reduce and eventually eliminate greenhouse gas emissions to the environment. While the holy grail of being truly ‘emissions free’ is still not feasible, there is much concurrent work in industry and academia to develop and source the fuels, the machinery technology, the logistical infrastructure and the business case for solutions that will meet the 2050 50% emission reduction mandates from the International Maritime Organization (IMO).

MAN Energy Solutions’ marine liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel-gas-system manufacturer MAN Cryo has inked a deal to supply the LNG fuel-gas supply systems for two icebreaking roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) newbuilds being built at Yantai Raffles shipyard in China for Swedish shipping line Wallenius SOL. MAN Energy Solutions will also supply a pair of 9L28/32DF dual-fuel auxiliary engines to each vessel.Upon construction, the 242-meter vessels will be the largest to ever to meet Finnish/Swedish ice class 1A Super standard…

Jiangsu Zhenjiang Shipyard in China has delivered Yong Gang Xiao Tuo 60, a dual fuel RAstar 3800-DF tug, to Ningbo Zhoushan Port Company Ltd.According to a release from the naval architectural firm Robert Allan, this first ever RAstar 3800-DF tug is the 10th custom designed vessel by Robert Allan Ltd. in close collaboration with Ningbo Port Company. The vessel is also the first Robert Allan Ltd. designed dual-fuel tug to operate in China.The new RAstar 3800-DF tug is powered by a pair of Niigata 8L28AHX-DF dual-fuel engines, each rated for 2,389 kW at 800 rpm, and driving Kongsberg US 255 CP 2.8 meter diameter controllable pitch Z-drives. Bollard pull recorded on trials met all expectations and is certified as 80.3 tonnes ahead.

Danish shipping giant Maersk will install a containerized 600 kWh marine battery system on board the 4,500 TEU Maersk Cape Town in December 2019 to improve vessel performance and reliability while reducing CO2 emissions.“This trial will provide a greater understanding of energy storage that will support Maersk in moving towards further electrification of its fleet and port terminals. Maersk will continue to facilitate, test, and develop low-carbon solutions on our journey to become carbon neutral by 2050,” explains Søren Toft, Maersk COO.Propelling marine vessels with battery power alone is still years away from being a technically- and economically viable option.

Classification society Lloyd's Register has awarded Chinese shipbuilder Jiangnan Shipyard (Group) Co., Ltd with Approval in Principle (AiP) for its 91,000-cubic-meter very large gas carrier (VLGC).The design, named “Panda 91T”, includes an liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) dual-fueled main engine and relevant fuel gas system, as well as an optional air lubrication system and the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) is approximately 40% lower than the base value, improving the efficiency…

Europe’s energy landscape will be completely changed once the Dutch shut down the largest gas field on the continent years ahead of schedule, according to Rystad Energy.The Netherland recently announced that production at Groningen – Europe’s largest gas field – will be halted in 2022, eight years earlier than initially planned. However, despite the ambitious target of decommissioning the field by 2022, Rystad Energy expects that there could be some residual production from Groningen up to 2030 as it is technically challenging to completely shut down production in such a short timeframe.The drastic drop in output from Groningen will redefine the European energy landscape.

MAN Energy Solutions said that its marine LNG fuel-gas-system manufacturer MAN Cryo has been contracted to supply an LNG fuel-gas supply system for Norwegian shipowner, Egil Ulvan Rederi newbuild.According to MAN,  the LNG fuel-gas system will be supplied for a ‘multipurpose palletized cargo and refrigerated vessel, also known as a LoLo (Lift-on/Lift-off).The vessel is designed by Førde, Norway designer, Multi Maritime, that already counts a number of LNG-powered vessels in its portfolio. The MM85CC design will be built at Tersan Shipyard in Turkey.Tersan has, over the years, also built quite a number of LNG-powered vessels and this will be the sixth such vessel since 2016 that it will outfit with a marine fuel-gas system delivered by MAN Cryo.