Siem names LNG-fueled car carrier duo

Siem ships Confucius and Aristotle

The first trans-Atlantic PCTCs (Pure Car Truck Carriers) to operate full-time on LNG were named Siem Confucius and Siem Aristotle in a November 15 ceremony held at China’s Xiamen Shipyard.

Owned by Kristiansand, Norway, headquartered Siem Car Carriers, the ships will replace two of the nine conventional heavy oil-fueled cargo ships currently used by Volkswagen Group logistics on the Atlantic between Europe and North America. Each 200 meters long and 38 meters wide PCTC will have 13 car decks and a capacity of 7,500 RT, which corresponds to approximately 4,700 vehicles of the Volkswagen Group model mix.

POWERED BY MAN B&W GI MAIN ENGINES

Each ship will be powered by an MAN B&W S60ME-GI (-Gas Injection) dual-fuel, two-stroke engine delivering 12,600 kW, with direct injection and exhaust-gas treatment to further reduce emissions.

Each vessel will also have two 9L28/32DF and one 7L28/32DF dual-fuel auxiliary engines. These are the very first L28/32DF units approved for Tier III operation without SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction), as well as being the first to be built by Chinese licensee, CMP. Furthermore, the 7L28/32DF engines are the first to be built in a 7-cylinder variant. All GenSets are turbocharged by individual MAN TCR 16 (for the 9L28/32DF units) or TCR 18 (for the 7L28/32DF units) turbochargers, with the entire set-up overseen by MAN’s proprietary SaCoS engine-control system.

Each vessel has a four-bladed MAN Alpha fixed pitch propeller of the highly-efficient Kappel design. The propellers have a diameter of 6.95 m and were produced by MAN’s propeller licensee, Dalian Marine Propeller Co., Ltd., in China.

Both ships will be equipped with two 1,800 cu.m LNG tanks installed below deck

Bjarne Foldager – Senior Vice President, Head of Two-Stroke Business at MAN Energy Solutions – said: “Our dual-fuel portfolio can rightly be considered as mature technology with references now in every major marine segment. With 2020 and the new IMO emissions legislation fast approaching, our dual-fuel engines continue to act as standard bearers for environmentally friendly, reliable propulsion technology with their seamless switching between fuels and elimination of methane slip.

“With well over 400 sales already amassed by MAN Energy Solutions’ entire portfolio of dual-fuel engines – all running on clean fuels such as methanol, LPG or LNG – these car carriers mark yet another milestone in the development of the dual-fuel market segment and cement the success of the strategy MAN Energy Solutions has laid over the past decade. The machinery we have provided for these vessels also fits with our desire to increasingly become a supplier of complete propulsion solutions.”