Kawasaki Heavy Industries has won its second order for a new design of LPG-fuelled LPG and liquefied ammonia gas (LAG) carrier.
The 86,700-cbm VLGC has been ordered by Japanese energy giant Eneos Ocean Corp. Delivery is set for 2023. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The newbuilding has been ordered against a charter from Japan Gas Energy Corp, but details were not disclosed.
Eneos said this vessel will be its third to use LPG as a bunker fuel.
It will be equipped with separate cargo tanks designed to carry LPG and LAG at the same time.
This is the second LPG/LAG newbuilding order secured by KHI in as many weeks, after K Line ordered a similar ship in late August.
KHI said the contract will be its 72nd LPG carrier newbuilding and the ninth LPG-fuelled LPG carrier to be constructed.
“The advantage of this dual-purpose vessel is its capability to simultaneously carry LPG, which is already used as a low-carbon energy source, and LAG, a new fuel contributing to the establishment of a decarbonised society,” the shipyard said.
“Another feature is the greater capacity of the cargo tanks as compared to conventional carriers, which was achieved without significantly changing the vessel’s length, breadth or other main specifications.”
KHI said the design meets SOx emission standards set by the International Maritime Organization, as well as its Energy Efficiency Design Index Phase 3 regulations, which are scheduled to adopt stricter CO2 emission standards in 2022.
KHI said it intends to develop and build more LPG-fuelled LPG carriers and other commercial vessels that meet these environmental standards.
It recently received approval in principle from ClassNK for the design of a 40,000-cbm cargo containment system developed for use on a large liquefied hydrogen carrier. KHI has already built the world’s first. The 1,250-cbm Suiso Frontier (built 2020) can transport liquid hydrogen at a temperature of -253C.
Eneos Ocean, the shipping offshoot of the Eneos Group, has a diverse fleet of 12 VLCCs, 14 LPG carriers, 15 chemical tankers and 10 bulkers.
TradeWinds reported in July that Eneos Ocean will take an LPG-fuelled VLGC ordered by Nissen Kaiun at Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering under a long-term charter contract of at least 10 years. The 86,000-cbm LPG carrier is valued at $165m.
The company has also placed orders for two VLGCs for its own account at the same yard, along with an order for two 98,000-cbm ethane carriers.
