New LNG retrofit solution for box ships unveiled  

Newport Shipping’s senior executives gave a detailed overview of the ground-breaking concept – which uses an LNG fuel tank container system – in the Class-approved, fast and cost-effective LNG retrofit for container ships webinar in Riviera Maritime Media’s Container Ship Tech & Ops webinar week.

Newport Shipping was a premier partner in the webinar, where panellists Newport Shipping managing director (Oslo) Lianghui Xia, Newport Shipping managing director (Hamburg) Ingmar Loges and Newport Shipping head of research and development (London) Turgay Colak highlighted the benefits of the system.

The 40-ft ISO LNG fuel tank container system is suitable for LNG-fuelled newbuildings and container vessel retrofits.

The LNG fuel tank container is a class-approved Type C LNG fuel tank in accordance with the IGF-code and is based on a German TÜV-certified IMDG container. The capacity of the tank is 31 tonnes, and it can hold about 33 m³ of LNG. The containers have a fail-safe dry-quick coupling connection and are approved for loading in up to seven-layer high stacks. The stainless-steel double-walled tank is also vacuum insulated and has up to 80 days holding time.

The concept consists of container stowage on a free deck in a safe area.

Mr Colak kicked off the presentations, explaining the system not only gives an immediate CO₂ emissions reduction of 20-25%, but that bio and synthetic LNG can also be used in the container retrofit system, allowing for even more emissions reduction potential.

He added, “Our concept is to use modular LNG containers, which can be used across different sizes of ships. They are standard containers and so can be transferred easily by truck to different filling stations and their mobility is a key feature to reach small-scale local facilities.”

Elsewhere, Mr Xia highlighted the benefits of the solution. He said, “It is a cost-effective concept with lower capex investment and our smart bunkering solution of containerised LNG tanks can be handled by the normal port facilities of loading and unloading containers.

“It can be applied to a big share of current fleet and newbuildings and it utilises LNG as an immediate and practical solution for decarbonisation. There is lots of talk on LNG being a transition fuel… but the transition period can be very long compared with the normal trading life of the existing fleet… we do need a good solution for this period and if you add bio and synthetic LNG to the picture, this makes LNG much more sustainable for the longer period as well.”

A major part of the retrofit product is that Newland Shipping – which is a service provider for drydocking, ship repairs and retrofits – will offer it as a turnkey solution.

Explaining the benefits, Mr Xia said, “In a retrofit project, the shipowner has to deal with multiple contractual parties, which is very demanding and entails high project risks with time and cost overruns. Our solution is a turnkey-based contract project with comprehensive scope, design engineering, equipment procurement, 3D scanning, class and detailed engineering and retrofitting. We will be the single contractual point with the client, easing the burden for the client and minimising project risk. It can be carried out within our network globally.”

Mr Loges highlighted the other important benefit to the LNG retrofit – attractive financing options. The company offers long-term deferred payment.

Mr Loges said, “For many projects, the finance element can be seen as the most critical part to make a project come to life and unfortunately, often, due to missing finance, the project cannot materialise. Financing for green projects is available, and we expect a rise in demand for retrofit finance as sustainability demand is growing in the maritime sector, and green finance has arrived. Owners should take advantage of this and avoid the negative effects of not doing anything. We can structure financing solutions for these projects, we work very closely with leading financial institutions, and we try to obtain conditional funding approval for any retrofit project.”

He said the company highlighted how such a retrofit contributes to the earnings, value, and trading life of the vessel, and how the ship’s environmental score will improve as a result. “The financial markets are very interested in supporting and green financing is here to stay.”

He summed up, “The time to act is now. We have the necessary turnkey decarbonisation solution that is is class approved, fast and cost effective – we can be seen as a one-stop-shop for retrofit solutions. We all must collaborate to reach the goal.”

In the key takeaways section of the online seminar, Mr Xia said, “We cannot stress more that we need to act now and we have a solution on the table that is cost effective, it is a very good and practical solution, so let’s act now.”

Mr Loges added, “Retrofit finance is not a bottleneck anymore, it is available on the market with quite attractive terms. Collaboration is very important to reach the goal, we have a turnkey solution and want to act now.”