AET has revealed plans to equip four newbuilding tankers with an LNG dual fuel option.
The tanker owner said a quartet of aframaxes under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) will initially operate in areas with LNG bunker availability upon their delivery from 2018 onwards.
Yee Yang Chien, chairman of AET, said: “As an organisation, operating in a responsible manner and improving our environmental stewardship is key to the way business is managed at MISC.
“We have complete confidence that LNG will play a significant part in the marine fuels mix in the coming years, and we have been reviewing the feasibility of developing a dual fuel LNG fleet since 2015.”
Fitted with twin LNG tanks, the vessels will have the ability to trade on LNG for about a month before re-fuelling.
They are most likely to operate in North America, northwest Europe and Asia, AET said.
The 113,000-dwt ships will replace existing tonnage as the company is looking to renew its fleet and improve its environmental footprint.
Dae-young Park, president of SHI, added: “These new vessels represent a milestone for AET, the tanker sector and the commercial shipping industry as a whole.
“By choosing the LNG option, AET has raised the bar and it will be only a matter of time before other operators follow.”
