The results of a new analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) show that, when combined with a trend toward higher methane leakage and combustion slip, there is no climate benefit from using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel—regardless of the engine technology. LNG is becoming... Read more →

The partners in Nigeria LNG (NLNG)—Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) (49%), Shell (25.6%), Total (15%) and Eni (10.4%)— have taken the final investment decision (FID) for the expansion project of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant at Bonny Island. This brownfield development, which is expected to start-up in 2024, will... Read more →

Matson, Inc., a leading US carrier in the Pacific, took delivery of its newest vessel, the largest combination container / roll-on, roll-off (con-ro) ship ever built in the United States, from General Dynamics NASSCO. Matson’s Lurline launches into San Diego Bay Christened Lurline, the new ship is the first of... Read more →

Rolls-Royce and Canadian vessel designers Robert Allan have developed the world’s first shallow-water push boat powered by LNG natural gas engines. At the International Workboat Show in New Orleans, classification society DNV GL gave its “Approval in Principle” to the new design. Powered by two MTU 8V4000M55RN natural gas engines... Read more →

Volkswagen Group Logistics is the first to use two car freighters powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) in overseas traffic. The two charter ships of Siem Car Carriers were launched last Friday in Xiamen, China. We are entering a new field here to reduce emissions. Both ships are the first... Read more →

SEA\LNG, the multi-sector industry coalition accelerating the widespread adoption of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a marine fuel, welcomed Canadian LNG provider FortisBC to the growing coalition. FortisBC brings to the coalition nearly 50 years’ experience in LNG production in Western Canada. It owns and operates two LNG facilities on... Read more →

Wärtsilä has launched the 31SG pure gas engine for marine market applications. The 31SG is based on the successful Wärtsilä 31 product platform; the diesel version of the engine has been recognized by Guinness World Records as being the world’s most efficient 4-stroke diesel engine. The Wärtsilä 31SG is available... Read more →

The Government of Canada recognizes that marine species, including the Southern Resident killer whale, are impacted by underwater vessel noise. Acoustic disturbances can reduce their ability to find prey, effectively navigate, and communicate with each other, while also creating stress. The Government of Canada is thus committing to invest up... Read more →

Robert Allan Ltd. and MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH have developed the first LNG-fueled shallow-draft pushboat design: the RApide 2800-G pushboat. This challenging project is a preliminary design which utilized the proven shallow draft RApide 2800-Z2 pushboat that currently operates on the Amazon River system. The vessel design was modified to suit... Read more →

Wärtsilä, Japanese ship builder Oshima Shipbuilding, and the classification society DNV GL have delivered the first results of their joint industry development project. At the recent Nor-Shipping exhibition held in Norway, the project partners announced a next-generation 62,000 dwt Ultramax Bulk Carrier design that is optimized according to actual operating... Read more →

The Government of Canada is investing $275 million to support LNG Canada’s major liquefied natural gas (LNG) complex in Kitimat, British Columbia. This $40-billion project represents the largest single private sector investment in the history of the country. The federal investment will include $220 million to help fund highly energy-efficient... Read more →

China’s first seagoing LNG bunker vessel will operate with a comprehensive and integrated package of solutions from the technology group Wärtsilä. The ship is being built by the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (DSIC) for an affiliate of the ENN Energy holdings, one of the largest users of LNG in China.... Read more →

In response to the growing demand for more efficient and reliable marine propulsion that serves the needs of an increasingly environmentally sustainable industry, WinGD (Winterthur Gas & Diesel Ltd.) has introduced three new low-speed, two-stroke engines that are capable of operating on low emission fuels. Building on the proven WinGD... Read more →

A life-cycle assessment of emissions from domestic and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG), and heavy-fuel oil (HFO) for marine shipping by a team from the University of British Columbia has found that only high-pressure dual-fuel (HPDF) engines robustly reduce well-to-wake GHG emissions by 10% compared with their HFO-fueled counterparts. Low... Read more →

A lifecycle study by consultancy thinkstep, commissioned by SEA\LNG and SGMF, has found that greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions of up to 21% are achievable now from LNG as a marine fuel, compared with current oil-based marine fuels, over the entire life-cycle from Well-to-Wake (WtW). The study also confirms that emissions... Read more →

Chevron Corporation entered into a definitive agreement with Anadarko Petroleum Corporation to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Anadarko in a stock and cash transaction valued at $33 billion, or $65 per share. Chevron said that its acquisition of Anadarko will significantly enhance its upstream portfolio and further strengthen... Read more →

DHL Freight, one of the leading providers of road freight services in Europe, has deployed one of the very first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered Iveco Stralis long-haul trucks capable of towing a mega trailer. During a year-long trial period the truck will operate as a daily shuttle between DHL’s logistics... Read more →

United European Car Carriers (UECC), jointly owned by Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha (NYK) and Wallenius Lines, has signed a contract for the construction of two new generation PCTC (Pure Car And Truck Carrier) with China Ship Building Trading Co., Ltd and Jiangnan Shipyard Group Co. Ltd. The vessels will be... Read more →

Rolls-Royce launched its latest in a series of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueled marine engines at the SMM maritime exhibition in Hamburg. The Bergen B36:45 model is designed in accordance with the Rolls-Royce philosophy of a common platform for all fuel options and applications, and can be configured to meet... Read more →

Three of the marine sector’s major technology companies—WinGD, Wärtsilä and GTT—will collaborate in making the use of LNG (liquified natural gas) fuel a viable option for ship owners and operators. By combining their expertise and experience, the three companies deliver an effective, streamlined approach for achieving compliance with environmental legislation.... Read more →

The technology group Wärtsilä’s has booked the 100th order for its LNGPac Fuel Gas Supply Systems. Two new shuttle tankers being built for Singapore based AET Tankers will feature Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel auxiliary engines running primarily on LNG fuel, and fitted with LNGPac units. This contract brought the total number... Read more →

Norwegian expedition cruise operator Hurtigruten has signed a Letter of Intent with Rolls-Royce for a major environmental upgrade program to hybrid power. The main engines on up to nine cruise ships will switch from diesel to gas power and the upgrade will also include installation of a hybrid battery system.... Read more →

The technology group Wärtsilä will supply its Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) recovery technology, LNG fuel gas handling systems and the auxiliary engines for two new shuttle tankers being built for Singapore-based AET Tankers at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea. The order, worth in total more than €30... Read more →

France-based engineering company GTT has received an order from the Chinese shipyard Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Corp. Ltd. to design the LNG tanks—each representing a capacity of 174,000 m3 of two dual-purpose vessels capable of operating as efficient LNG Carriers and Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRUs). These vessels will be... Read more →

French shipping line CMA CGM, based in Marseille, has selected Winterthur Gas & Diesel’s (WinGD’s) largest, 92 cm bore, dual-fuel low-speed engine to power what are presently the largest containerships ever ordered. (Earlier post.) The 12-cylinder X92DF engines (12X92DF) will power a series of nine “mega” containerships, each with a... Read more →

Wessels Reederei signed a letter of intent with MAN Diesel & Turbo regarding the conversion of three of its fleet to dual-fuel gas operation. The three ships are sisters to the Wes Amelie, a 1,036-TEU feeder container ship with an MAN 8L48/60B main engine that was retrofitted to a multi-fuel,... Read more →

Carnival Cruise Line, a unit of Carnival Corporation & plc, signed an agreement with Shell NA LNG, LLC (Shell) to be its supplier of marine liquefied natural gas (LNG) to power North America’s first fully LNG-powered cruise ships. Under this framework agreement, Shell will supply Carnival Cruise Line with fuel... Read more →

GTT (Gaztransport & Technigaz), an engineering company expert in containment systems with cryogenic membranes used to transport and store liquefied gas, in particular LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas), has been chosen by the shipyard Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and by shipowner CMA CGM for the design of cryogenic tanks for nine LNG-fueled container... Read more →

The CMA CGM Group, a world leader in maritime transport, will equip its 9 future container ships of 22,000 TEUs (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit), to be delivered in 2020, with engines using liquefied natural gas. At 22,000 TEU, the ULCVs (Ultra Large Container Vessels) will be among the largest in the... Read more →

The technology group Wärtsilä, through its joint venture company CSSC Wärtsilä Engine (Shanghai) Co (CWEC), has been contracted to deliver 16 engines for four new LNG carrier vessels being built at the Hudong Zhonghua shipyard in China. The order was booked in August 2017. Each of the four 174,000 m3... Read more →

The technology group Wärtsilä has completed the installation of a hybrid energy system on board Viking Princess. (Earlier post.) The Norwegian vessel is now the first offshore supply vessel in which batteries reduce the number of generators aboard the ship. The new energy storage solution will improve engine efficiency, generate... Read more →

The technology group Wärtsilä has reached an agreement to acquire Puregas Solutions, a Sweden-based provider of turnkey biogas upgrading solutions. Puregas is a leading player in its field with subsidiary companies in Germany, Denmark, the UK, and the US. The company utilizes a unique CApure process to convert raw biogas... Read more →

Volvo Trucks is now introducing Euro 6-compliant heavy duty trucks running on liquefied natural gas or biogas. The new trucks have the same performance, driveability and fuel consumption as Volvo’s diesel-powered models. Furthermore, the new trucks’ CO₂ emissions are 20–100% lower compared with diesel, depending on choice of fuel. The... Read more →

Volvo Trucks is taking the position that by replacing diesel with liquefied natural gas or biogas, CO2 emissions from heavy trucks can be drastically reduced. Volvo Trucks is intensifying its development of gas-powered trucks for heavy regional and long-haul operations. Reducing climate-impacting emissions from heavy commercial traffic is a challenge... Read more →

Wärtsilä will supply dual-fuel engines for a new LNG-fueled research vessel being built for the German government. Wärtsilä will also supply exhaust cleaning systems based on selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology and the LNGPac system for complete fuel gas handling. The SCR technology will be needed when the engines are... Read more →

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), IVECO (a brand of CNH Industrial) and ENGIE (Global Energy Player) are broadly collaborating to promote natural gas vehicles and infrastructure in Europe. This collaboration is in line with the implementation of the DAFI Directive (Directive 2014/94 - Deployment of Alternative Fuels Infrastructures), with a particular... Read more →

Cummins Westport’s ISB6.7 G, a 6.7 liter midrange, factory-built natural gas engine is now fully available as a production engine for shuttle bus, medium duty truck, and vocational applications in North America. (Earlier post.) As previously announced, the engine has been available for school bus applications since May 2016 from... Read more →

The newest class of ships from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd (RCL) will be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and likely will introduce the use of fuel cell technology, ushering in a new era of shipbuilding that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The ships will join the fleet of... Read more →

From 2019, Volkswagen Group Logistics will use two LNG-powered charter vessels from Siem Car Carriers AS, making it one of the first automakers to opt for low-emission LNG-powered vessels for the marine transport of vehicles. The two ships, with a length of 200 m and a capacity of about 4,500... Read more →

GDTech Engineering s.a. has developed and delivered prototype direct-CNG injectors to Fiat Powertrain for heavy-duty long-haul LNG mono-fuel engines. This injector will be applied in the future IVECO Cursor 13 DI-CNG engine being developed as part of the HDGas project in Europe. GDTech is the injector supplier to Fiat Powertrain... Read more →

Ricardo is one of 19 collaborating commercial and academic partners in the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Green Vehicle Initiative project HDGAS—a project that aims to develop, demonstrate and optimize advanced powertrain concepts for dual-fuel and pure natural gas-powered heavy duty vehicles. Particular areas of focus for the company will be... Read more →

Clean Energy Fuels Corp. will construct new compressed natural gas (CNG) stations for Arlington Transit (ART) in Arlington County, Virginia; Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) in Long Island, NY; and North Kansas City (MO) School District, which is set to become the largest school district in the US to transition its... Read more →

DNV GL announced the completion of the LNGreen joint industry project, which worked to develop a state-of-the-art next-generation LNG carrier. (Earlier post.) The LNGreen joint industry project brought together experts from DNV GL and industry specialists from GTT (cryogenic membrane containment systems for LNG); shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries; and shipowner... Read more →

Switching from diesel fuel to natural gas may hold advantages for the US heavy-duty trucking fleet, but more needs to be done to reach the full environmental benefits, according to a new white paper released by the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis, and Rice University.... Read more →

Sayaringo STaGE. Click to enlarge. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has completed development of the “Sayaringo STaGE,” a next-generation LNG (liquefied natural gas) carrier. The Sayaringo STaGE was developed as a successor to the Sayaendo (earlier post), the company’s LNG carrier evolved from carriers with Moss-type spherical tanks that offer... Read more →

A recently released total fuel cycle analysis for maritime case studies shows that natural gas fuels reduce some air quality pollutants substantially, and reduce major greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions slightly, when compared to conventional petroleum-based marine fuels (low-sulfur and high-sulfur). The study was released by the US Department of Transportation’s... Read more →

Scaled-down model of prismatic pressure vessel. Click to enlarge. Professors Pål G. Bergan and Daejun Chang and of Ocean Systems Engineering at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) have developed a box-type, large-size pressure vessel for the storage and transportation of liquids such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG),... Read more →

Westport Innovations Inc. unveiled its next generation of high pressure direct injection natural gas technology platform, Westport HPDI 2.0. Westport is now working with seven OEM applications with engine sizes ranging from trucks to trains at various stages of development with the goal of vertically integrated Westport HPDI 2.0 OEM... Read more →

Wärtsilä has successfully conducted full scale testing on gas of its low-speed 2-stroke dual-fuel engine and is now introducing a full new range of engines based on its established and well-proven low pressure technology. The first engine utilizing this technology, the Wärtsilä RT-flex50DF, will be available for delivery in the... Read more →

International shipping contributes an estimated 3% of global emissions of CO2. Although the industry has reduced its consumption of fossil fuels by a number of measures such as using increasingly thermally efficient diesel engines in recent decades, the current total fuel oil consumption is in excess of 350 million tonnes... Read more →