Kumiai Navigation Takes on Bunker-Saving Air Lubrication System for LPG Tanker

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Thursday September 7, 2023

Shipping firm Kumiai Navigation is set to retrofit one of its LPG tankers with a bunker-saving air lubrication system from Alfa Laval.

Alfa Laval will install one of its Oceanglide systems on board the 54,000 DWT LPG tanker, it said in an emailed statement on Wedensday.

Air lubrication systems insert bubbles of air between the bottom of a ship's hull and the surrounding water, reducing friction and cutting fuel consumption as a result. Energy-efficiency technologies of this kind are rapidly becoming the norm for new ships as shipping firms seek both to reduce emissions and fuel bills, and their profitability is likely to rise further once the industry is using much more expensive alternative fuels.

""We want to invest in green shipping practices to help us lower our power consumption and comply with upcoming environmental regulations," Tomo Kuroyanagi, managing director of Kumiai Navigation, said in the statement.

"In this effort, OceanGlide fluidic air lubrication is currently one of the best available solutions that offer remarkable gains in improving vessel performance and meeting our environmental targets."

Ship & Bunker News Team
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