China’s Dalian Shipbuilding Industry (DSIC) has kicked off construction of an LNG-powered containership for compatriot Minsheng Financial Leasing and Switzerland-based shipping giant MSC.
According to a statement by DSIC, the shipbuilder held a steel-cutting ceremony on May 15 for the LNG dual-fuel 16,000-teu containership with a working name C16K-9.
DSIC said it is building the vessel for Minsheng Financial Leasing (MSFL) and MSC.
MSC will probably take this containership on charter.
This newbuild will have a length of 366 meters and width of 51 meters, and can carry 16,196 standard containers.
The main WinGD engine has the iCER diesel energy-saving tech and can use low sulphur fuel oil and LNG, DSIC said.
Also, the containership will feature a type B LNG tank independently designed and built by DSIC, and a variety of energy-saving equipment such as air lubrication drag reduction system and shaft generator.
Eight LNG dual-fuel vessels
Prior to this ship, DSIC started building for MSC the 16,000-teu LNG dual-fuel containership with a working name C16K-10.
The shipbuilder also recently started building what it says is the world’s largest 13,000-cbm type B LNG cargo tank and will install the tank in this vessel.
Designed by DSIC Design Institute, the design pressure is 0.7 Bar, the main shell material is NV9Ni/a steel, and the internal pipeline is 316L steel, according to DSIC.
Moreover, compared with the traditional type C tank, the type B tank has the advantages of high capacity utilization, flexible, and diverse design, DSIC claims.
DSIC said it will build eight such tanks for MSC’s eight LNG dual-fuel containerships with a capacity of 16,000 units.
LNG Prime reported in January last year, citing shipbuilding sources, that MSC ordered six LNG-powered container vessels at CSSC’s DSIC and this containership (C16K-10) is part of that order.
