South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has installed the main engine on the first out of twelve ultra large LNG-powered container vessels it is building for Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd.
Hapag-Lloyd first ordered six LNG dual-fuel 23,660-teu containerships from DSME in 2020 and added six more sister vessels in 2021, with a total price tag of about $2 billion.
The German shipping firm will take delivery of these vessels in 2023 and 2024. All of the vessels will feature MAN ME-GI main engines.
DSME held the keel-laying ceremony for the first vessel in these series, Hamburg Express, on September 21 and now has installed the main engine on this ship.
According to a social media post by Hapag-Lloyd on Wednesday, the 2,246-tonne engine was deployed at DSME’s yard in Geoje with a giant floating crane.
The new LNG-powered engine has a maximum power of 58.270 kW at 76.5 revolutions per minute.
This is about the power of more than 190 mid-size cars with 300 kW combined, Hapag-Lloyd said.
Further work, including alignment of the shaft and mounting, would take another three months, it said.
The shipyard plans to deliver the LNG-powered Hamburg Express to Hapag-Lloyd in the second quarter of 2023.
Following delivery, this will be the first LNG-powered newbuild in Hapag-Lloyd’s fleet.
The firm already has the converted containership, Brussels Express, the world’s first ultra large containership LNG retrofit.