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The newbuild order placed with China Merchants Jinling Shipyard Nanjing is for two firm multi-fuel battery hybrid vessels scheduled for delivery in 2028, with options for two more units, UECC said on Wednesday.
If exercised, this would bring the number of LNG-powered newbuilds in the UECC fleet to nine after five similar deliveries within the past decade.
Europe’s shortsea RoRo carrier did not provide the contract price tag.
Compared to previous vessels, UECC said the latest newbuilds will have a greater cargo capacity of 4,500 CEU.
The vessels will have 10 decks – of which two are hoistable – together with a quarter stern ramp capacity of 160 tons and LOA of 190m.
They are intended for deployment into UECC’s European shortsea shipping liner network for transport of vehicles, high and heavy and other rolling cargoes.
In October 2022, UECC took delivery of the third and final LNG-powered hybrid PCTC from China’s Jiangnan Shipyard.
With an overall length of 169 meters and a width of 28 meters, Auto Advance, Auto Achieve, and Auto Aspire each have a car carrying capacity of 3,600 units on 10 cargo decks.
The new vessels boosted the UECC dual-fuel fleet to five ships in total as it already operated two LNG-powered PCTCs, Auto Eco and Auto Energy, but these do not feature battery power.
UECC claims it has been able to achieve a 25 percent reduction in CO2 emissions through the use of LNG on these dual-fuel vessels.
