MAN Diesel & Turbo has been selected to provide a complete propulsion package and fuel-gas system for the world’s first fishing vessel with LNG propulsion. The 86-metre purser-trawler Libas will be built by Cemre Shipyard in Turkey.
Libas will feature a MAN 6L51/60DF main engine, Renk gearbox, MAN Alpha propeller system and MAN Cryo LNG fuel-gas system with a 350 cubic metre tank. Libas has been ordered by Norwegian fishing company Liegruppen and is designed by Salt Ship Design.
‘This is a pioneering project. At MAN we are convinced that low-emission gas fuels are the silver bullet to decarbonising the shipping industry and we have made it our mission to guide our customers through that transition,’ said Wayne Jones, chief sales officer with MAN Diesel & Turbo.
The delivery of the new LNG-propulsion package is part of MAN’s wide ranging engagement for the establishment of LNG as a marine fuel. Calling for a Maritime Energy Transition, the company considers the use of natural gases as the fuels of choice in global shipping as the most promising way to supporting the goal of a climate-neutral shipping industry. Launched in 2016 after COP 21, MAN’s initiative has since found broad support within the shipping industry and politics.
‘We offer a full system approach with regards to gas propulsion,’ said Lex Nijsen, Head of Four-Stroke Marine at MAN Diesel & Turbo. ‘This includes new builds as much as retrofits of existing vessels. In 2017 MAN has retrofitted the world’s first container vessel to LNG and more projects are being realised as we speak.’
He commented that winning the order for the propulsion system for the new Libas is a noteworthy development for the company.
‘Our ability to provide this efficient, low-emission, proven LNG- fuelled propulsion package – a world’s first for this environmentally sensitive segment – really puts our credentials as a system provider on display,’ he said.
The MAN Cryo fuel-gas system incorporates a 350 cubic metre vacuum insulated cylindrical type C tank, a TCS/coldbox with process equipment, manifold and instrumentation, an emergency shut-down system and a bunker station for supply of LNG to tank.
The system is designed for a net tank volume of 330 cubic metres of LNG and temperatures down to -163°C. The tank stores LNG at the lowest possible temperature and pressure until it is evaporated and supplied to the dual-fuel MAN 6L51/60DF main engine, according to consumption requirements.
MAN Diesel & Turbo’s uprated MAN L51/60DF engine successfully passed its Type Approval Test at the end of 2017 where a nine-cylinder test engine had an output of 1150 kW/cylinder at a nominal speed of 500/514 rpm. The engine can be employed both as marine main engine and auxiliary engine and ran on both fuel-oil (DMA) and natural gas on the testbed.
