Two EXMAR Very Large Gas Carriers will be LPG fueled

MARCH 2, 2018 — While plenty of people have been studying the potential of LPG as a marine fuel, Antwerp headquartered EXMAR has taken the plunge. It says that the main engines of two 79,500 cu.m Very Large Gas Carrier (VLGC) newbuildings recently contracted at shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction, Subic Bay, Philippines, will be LPG fueled.

The ships have been contracted to serve long-term commitments with Statoil ASA of Norway for worldwide LPG transportation. Both vessels are to be delivered within 2020 and will be compliant with the most stringent NOx and SOx emission regulations.

EXMAR says the decision to use LPG as fuel is the result of Statoil ASA’s commitment to improve the sustainability performance in its activities and a longstanding cooperation by EXMAR with Lloyd’s Register, as classification society, and MAN Diesel & Turbo, as engine manufacture, to develop an efficient LPG fuel system, which allows part of the cargo to be used for the vessels’ propulsion.

EXMAR says its expertise and proven track record in LNG and LPG handling enables it to once more play a pioneering role in the gas shipping industry as Statoil ASA’s project will be the first to validate LPG as marine fuel.

LPG’s environmental benefits lie in the fact that LPG as a fuel does not contain any sulfur and substantially reduces CO2 and NOx emissions with particulate matters being almost halved as compared to a heavy fuel engine.