Asia/Pacific News
MOL Secures Charter Deal for Three Dual-Fuel Ethane Carriers
Japanese shipping firm Mitsui OSK Lines' (MOL) subsidiary MOL Energia has signed a long-term charter agreement with Thailand's SCG Chemicals for its upcoming three ethane carriers.
The 100,000 m3 capacity very large liquefied ethane carriers (VLCCs) are currently under construction at Samsung Heavy Industries' Geoje Shipyard, with deliveries slated in 2027, MOL said in a statement on its website.
All three vessels will be equipped with dual-fuel ethane engines, enabling them to run on ethane and conventional marine fuels.
These vessels could potentially use boil-off gas from cargo as fuel.
Boil-off gas refers to the vaporised portion of liquefied gas cargo, such as LNG or ethane, that naturally evaporates due to heat ingress during transportation.
Many dual-fuel vessels, such as LNG vessels use boil-off gas as fuel for propulsion. This helps to improve fuel efficiency and reduce the frequent need of bunkering.
"With this contract, the number of VLECs managed and operated by our group will increase to 12 vessels out of approximately 90 VLECs which have been delivered or in order," MOL said.
