Teekay LNG Partners has ordered two 173,400m3 LNG carriers from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering in Korea. The vessels will each have two MAN Diesel & Turbo ME-GI dual-fuel, ultra long two-stroke gas injection engines. These engines received DNV type approval in 2010 and their use as part of an innovative propulsion package is claimed to give significant fuel savings when compared to propulsion commonly used for LNG carriers.

DNV experience from risk assessments of LNG-fuelled ships shows that a gas-fuelled main engine has the same risk level as a diesel-fuelled main engine. One reason for the low risk is that the main engine undergoes rigorous type approval and testing regimes as well as being subject to stringent rule and regulatory requirements.

The new electronically controlled, two-stroke ME-GI engines from MAN Diesel & Turbo have undergone extensive testing. The engines will automatically switch between burning LNG and fuel oil when power is reduced to15% load, making port-to-port operation on LNG possible.

“These engines place us at the forefront of technology in the marketplace,” says Tony Bingham, Teekay’s technical manager for LNG. “We benefit, our charterers benefit and so does the environment through lower SOx, NOx, CO2 and particulate emissions.”

Tags: DNV