NYK lays keel for world’s largest LNG fueled PCTC

Keel laying ceremony, second from left, Takaya Soga, managing corporate officer of NYK

Japan’s NYK Line held a keel laying ceremony September 20 at Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. to mark the start of construction of what will be the world’s largest pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) capable of operating with only LNG as the main fuel.

Scheduled to be delivered in 2020, the ship will be the first large LNG-fueled PCTC to be built in Japan. It will have a length overall about 199.95 meters, breadth of about 38.0 meters and will be able to transport approximately 7,000 units (standard vehicle equivalent) per voyage.

To minimize the reduction in vehicle loading capacity caused by the installation of LNG fuel tanks, in addition to optimizing major items such as ship width, NYK says that “several designs for maximizing the cargo loading space will be implemented.”