UNITED Arab Shipping Company (UASC) has announced that it will adopt IHI-SPB Tank technology to store the liquefied natural gas (LNG) required to power the dual-fuel engines of the its 14,000- to 18,000-TEU ships it ordered from Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) in August.
The self-supporting prismatic tanks IMO type-B (SPB) LNG containment system has only been applied on a handful of LNG tankers since being pioneered by Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries (IHI) in the 1990s.
Described as being a "radical choice", the IHI-SPB system enables the storage of natural gas in a liquid form at atmospheric pressure under a temperature of minus 162 degrees Celsius, which is a bold move for bunkering purposes, according to Alphaliner, in comparison to the solutions used by other carriers that have opted for natural gas.
Other orders concern mostly ships running short sea shuttles calling at established terminals, facilitating the setup of gas refilling stations at one end of the rotation, refilling every voyage.
Natural gas is an effective solution for short sea shuttles given the bulkiness and cost of NG tanks, which in the case of the short sea ships, store the gas in IMO type C tanks of limited dimensions, but not as atmospheric pressure LNG, a solution used in large LNG tankers.
The report said it is not clear yet if UASC intends to burn natural gas on the whole Far East-Europe rotations or only when the ship is in the Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECA).
"Retaining such an expensive storage solution, could run on NG for the whole rotation to recoup the extra investment, despite uncertainties on energy markets and the economics of gas burning in relation to regulations," said Alphaliner.
The ships could call at ports in the Middle East in both directions in order to refill for each half of the Far East-Europe rotation and to minimise the volume and cost of the NG tanks. Despite their relative compactness, IHI-SPB tanks remain bulky to ensure sufficient fuel for several weeks.
There also remains the refilling logistics problem, although UASC, being the only large carrier based in the Middle East with leading gas producers among its shareholders, may find it easier to strike a deal with local suppliers in the Gulf region.
