Seaspan: LNG Bunkers for Containerships are "A Long, Long Way Off"

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday May 19, 2014

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a long way from becoming a common containership fuel, Gerry Wang, CEO and co-founder of shipowner Seaspan Ship Management Ltd. (Seaspan), has told industry new site JOC.

"To power the main engine, LNG is a long, long way off," he said.

"The main problem is LNG itself. A ship will need to be an LNG carrier to be able to use the gas to drive the main engine.

"The storage, the cylinders, the refrigeration, liquidation — the vessel will become an LNG carrier within a container ship."

Wang said engines can be configured to burn LNG, but carrying enough supply of the fuel is too difficult.

"The equipment on board will be too expensive, too heavy and will occupy too much space, so the ship will hardly be able to carry cargo anymore," he said.

Wang said it will also be too difficult to store LNG within harbours where container terminals are located, forcing ships to make special stops at LNG berths to load the fuel.

He added that other changes can be made to reduce shipping emissions, such as using scrubbers or switching to "cleaner" fuel oil.

"LNG will not be cheaper because of all the devices that need to be installed," he said.

The world's first LNG-powered containership is now under construction for TOTE Inc., and Wärtsilä Corp. (Wärtsilä) has argued that the fuel will dominate the containership market by 2024.

Ship & Bunker News Team
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