Shell fits 15 LNG barges with Wärtsilä engines

Wärtsilä will supply engines and LNGPac fuel gas-handling systems for the 15 LNG-powered inland waterway barges that Belgium-based Plouvier Transport has ordered for time charter to Shell Trading Rotterdam. The barges will operate primarily on LNG.

Wärtsilä will supply each barge with a six-cylinder Wärtsilä 20DF dual-fuel main engine, a gearbox, an LNGPac fuel gas handling system developed in co-operation with Cryonorm, and a Wärtsilä propeller with an HR nozzle. Deliveries will start in June.

Veka’s Centromost shipyard in Poland is building the hulls, which will be fitted out at Veka’s shipyard at Werkendam. The orders were confirmed and the engine contracts placed with Wärtsilä in December.

Wärtsilä says it drew from its experience from “the two latest dual-fuel powered inland waterway vessels with Wärtsilä DF engines” to optimise the efficiency parameters for the 15 barges. It recently introduced a combined engine and thruster package tailored to the needs of vessels operating along rivers and inland waterways.

Shell will deploy the 110m barges to support its new LNG breakbulk operation, the Port of Rotterdam-based Gate Terminal. The barges will operate across the Antwerp-Rotterdam-Amsterdam region and along the Rhinetrack in Switzerland and Germany.

“The specified requirements were for environmental compliance, reliability, fuel flexibility, low operational costs and a proven concept,” Wärtsilä said in a statement.

“The deployment of LNG as a cleaner fuel for shipping is supported by Shell and these innovative new vessels represent an important endorsement of this support… [and] will enhance the safety and efficiency performance of the company’s fleet.”