Italy’s Fratelli Cosulich Group has ordered a $45m LNG bunker vessel newbuilding in China.
The company said the vessel, which will be built at CIMC Sinopacific Offshore & Engineering (CIMC SOE) shipyard, will be able transport over 8,000 cbm of LNG and 500 cbm of marine gasoil for bunkering.
The newbuilding is being kitted out with a Wartsila dual-fuel propulsion system.
The group said the cost of the vessel is about $45m, with 10% of the cost covered by a grant from the European Union Connecting Europe Facility programme.
The ship is due for delivery in 2023.
Fratelli Cosulich has an option for an additional vessel at the yard.
“This important investment reaffirms the Group’s commitment to safeguard the environment and to operate with absolute safety,” the company said. “Our efforts are focused on decreasing our footprint, and on contributing to the infrastructure for the entire shipping and logistics sector.”
Tim Cosulich, who is the chief executive in charge of all marine fuels and shipowning activities of the group, told TradeWinds that the LNGBV newbuilding will be based in the Mediterranean.
Drivers
Cosulich said part of the reasoning for the new LNGBV is the increase in the number of LNG-fuelled newbuildings being ordered
He said it feels as if shipping has not yet done much to cut its emissions.
“We are perfectly aware that LNG might not be the solution,” he said, explaining that while as a fuel it still generates emissions these are at a “big reduction” to oil. “But it is important that we get moving on something that is already there rather than wait 20 years for the perfect solution.”
Fratelli Cosulich Group, which has been active in the trading and supply of bunkers for over 50 years and operates six oil bunker vessels in Singapore, is already working in LNG.
The group manages a floating storage and regasification unit — the 137,000-cbm FSRU Toscana (built 2003) — off Livorno, Italy, in the Mediterranean through its subsidiary ECOS.
It has now set up Fratelli Cosulich LNG to expand its LNG business.
“The idea is that we want to grow on the gas side and we see this as a first step,” Cosulich said.
He revealed that the company drew up its own specifications for the LNGBV and said it hopes to declare the optional vessel.
Employment
Cosulich said the employment of the vessel has not yet been decided. The group is still considering whether to own and operate the unit directly or time-charter it out to an energy major or alternative charterer.
“We have relatively advanced talks with a number of players,” he said.
Cosulich said the final employment for the vessel will determine where it will work, mentioning Panagalia in Italy and the FSRU Toscana —the latter has been putting in place plans for small-scale and bunkering off the regas unit.
“It is our responsibility to make shipping increasingly respectful of the environment, in the interest of future generations,” Andrea Cosulich, the group's honorary president, said.
“We acted proactively, in order to offer the coverage of the Mediterranean basin, following the trend that sees new ships under construction equipped with alternative propulsion, especially in the field of passengerships.”
