MAN Diesel & Turbo powers world’s largest LNG fueled bulker

APRIL 10, 2018 — The world’s largest LNG fueled bulk carrier thus far — the 191 m, 50,000 dwt Ilshin Green Iris — is powered by a single MAN B&W 6G50ME-GI two-stroke engine.

The vessel was constructed by shipbuilder Hyundai Mipo Dockyard (HMD) for Ilshin Logistics and has been chartered by steelmaker POSCO, to transport limestone cargoes in the Korean coastal trade.

The Ilshin Green Iris has a Type ‘C’ LNG fuel tank with a capacity of 500 cu.m and constructed of a high-manganese austenitic steel newly developed by POSCO that is specially designed for cryogenic LNG and liquefied gas-storage applications.

Built to dual Lloyd’s Register and Korean Register class, the vessel has been verified to be in compliance with the International Gas Fuel (IGF) Code.

MAN Diesel & Turbo’s successful ME-GI (Gas Injection) engine, with over 200 engines ordered, has set a new industrial standard for two-stroke propulsion engines aboard – among others – LNG carriers, container vessels, and now bulk carriers.

Bjarne Foldager – Vice President, Sales & Promotion, Two-Stroke Business at MAN Diesel & Turbo – said: “We are very pleased to be part of this exciting project and to see our dual-fuel ME-GI engine win favor in yet another market segment. We look forward to following its progress.”

The ME-GI engine has taken two-stroke development has taken a step further by combining the unique properties of multi-fuel combustion and the well-known reliability of Man Diesel & Turbo’s ME-engine. The Diesel principle provides the ME-GI engine with high operational stability and efficiency, including during load changes and fuel change-over, while defining properties such as a stable change-over from fuel to gas with no fuel-penalties are maintained. The negligible methane slip of the ME-GI engine makes it the most environmentally friendly, two-stroke technology available.

Though Ilshin Green Iris is currently the largest LNG fueled bulker, it is not the first. That title is held by the 5,875 dwt cement carrier M/V Greenland, delivered by Netherlands-based shipbuilding company Ferus Smit on December 23, 2015