Dutch shipping firm Wijnne Barends has taken delivery of its first out of four LNG-powered short-sea cargo vessels from China’s Wuhu Shipyard.
Wijnne Barends, an affiliate of the Dutch Spliethoff Group, said in a statement it took delivery of the 115 meters long Lady Marie Christine from Wuhu on January 24.
The vessel with a deadweight capacity of above 5,800 tons is the first LNG-powered dry bulk cargo vessel in short sea shipping in Europe, according to the owner.
Wijnne Barends said the vessel’s first trip includes loading a cargo in China and delivering it to Germany.
The Dutch firm ordered four such LNG-powered vessels at Wuhu in 2020.
Finland’s Wartsila will provide LNG propulsion but also storage systems for all of the ships as part of a deal signed in December 2020.
All of the ships will have a Wartsila 34DF dual-fuel main engine and a Wartsila LNGPac system that Wuhu will install below deck.
Also, the lift-on, lift-off vessels will operate in the Baltic and North Seas and will be Finnish/Swedish ice-class 1A classified.
Conoship International, a Dutch ship designer that cooperated with Wijnne Barends on the development of the vessel, said its main purpose would be transporting all kind of paper-related materials.
The vessels will work for Finland’s UPM.