Japan-based Kansai Electric Power (KEPCO) has agreed to jointly own a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel with Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK Line).
The vessel will be owned through a joint venture (JV), in which NYK Line owns 30% and KEPCO holds 70% share.
Currently being built at Kawasaki Heavy Industries’ Sakaide shipyard in Japan, the carrier is expected to be completed by next year.
The vessel, which features a dual-fuel diesel electric propulsion engine, will be deployed at the Cove Point LNG project in the US to transport LNG for 20 years.
Measuring around 300m in length and nearly 48.90m in width, the LNG carrier will require less fuel than the conventional steam turbine engine-powered vessel.
Recently, a consortium that includes NYK Line, Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL), Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K Line), and Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) has taken delivery of a LNG-powered carrier.
Built by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries, the vessel, Prachi, has a capacity of 173,000m³.
The vessels will be chartered to Petronet LNG (PLL), which imports LNG to India, for a period of 19 years.
In September this year, United European Car Carriers (UECC), jointly owned by NYK and Wallenius Lines, took delivery of the first of the two LNG-fuelled pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) from Kawasaki Heavy Industries.
The vessel, Auto Eco, features dual-fuel engines that can use either LNG or heavy fuel oil (HFO) and marine gas oil (MGO).
