Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha has entered into shipbuilding contracts with China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Nanjing) for four 1,380CEU LNG dual-fuel pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs).
The 130-metre-long vessels were ordered for K Line European Sea Highway Services (KESS), K Line’s European subsidiary.
The vessels will be designed for the frequent transport of small lots in European shortsea shipping. They will also be designed to comply with size restrictions in imported vehicles in place in some European ports.K Line said it is confident that these vessel specifications will give KESS a competitive advantage in its European shortsea shipping operations.
Each PCTC will be equipped with a straight stern ramp with a load capacity of 60 tons. K Line said this will enhance KESS’ capacity to handle heavy and oversized cargo and increase its flexibility to carry a wide variety of cargo types in addition to passenger cars.
The vessels will each use a high-pressure type ME-GI engine with a shaft generator, reducing emissions of methane slip. While boil-off gas (BOG) generated from LNG tanks is generally used as fuel for generator engines on a vessel with a high-pressure main engine, these vessels will be equipped with vacuum-insulated LNG tanks to reduce the generation of BOG. This will enable a machinery configuration with lower methane slip emissions.
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