German Naval Yards Kiel floats out LNG fueled research vessel

German Naval Yards Kiel, has floated out Atair, the world’s first LNG fueled research vessel, after a building period of 16 months. The 75 m vessel is being built for Germany’s Bundesamt für Seeschifffahrt und Hydrographie (BSH), the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency and will replace her 30 year old namesake..

The general contractor for the ship is Fassmer Shipyard, however, the hull and superstructure construction and some of the outfitting have been undertaken at German Naval Yards.

“The building of the vessel is very complex and large parts of the outfitting works are still ahead of us,” said Harald Fassmer, Managing Director of Fassmer Shipyard. “Therefore I am glad that we have reached this milestone on time. The towing of the ship to Fassmer shipyard is scheduled for the middle of March, where installation and finishing works in all trades will be continued seamlessly.”

Jörg Herwig, Managing Director of German naval Yards Kiel said he was very proud the shipyard had once again proven its ability to build a complex and technically demanding vessel on time and within budget. “Especially if we consider the innovative side of the vessel, floating of the dock becomes a particularly emotional moment,” he added

Main propulsion power will be provided by two 6-cylinder Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel engines capable of running on either LNG or conventional liquid fuels., Wärtsilä’s supply scope also includes one 6-cylinder Wärtsilä 20 engine, two exhaust cleaning systems based on selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology, and a Wärtsilä LNGPac fuel storage, supply, and control system. The SCR technology will be needed when the engines are running on conventional marine diesel fuel should the vessel exhausts its supply of LNG on long voyages.

After successful finishing of all trials the newbuilding will be delivered to the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) in spring 2020.