China-based Yantai CIMC Raffles Shipyard has cut the first steel for a new LNG-powered roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessel ordered by Swedish shipping company Wallenius SOL.
Specifically, the vessel is planned to be delivered in August 2021, and is the world’s first RoRo ship to be both LNG fueled and have an ice class 1A Super.
It was designed by Wallenius Marine in collaboration with Danish shipbuilder Knud E. Hansen to handle the tough, sometimes Arctic, conditions in the Gulf of Bothnia.
During the ceremony, Ragnar Johansson, Managing Director, Wallenius SOL, stated that
I’m absolutely thrilled that construction has begun. We set the bar high in terms of reliable ocean freight with low environmental impact, and a ship with both the highest ice class and environmental performance shows how we live up to this.
Moreover, the newly built vessel will have a 242-metres length, a beam of 35.2 meters and a capacity of 5,800 lane meters. It will have a top speed of 20 knots and a cruise speed of 16 knots.
It should be reminded that in mid-March, Wallenius Marine opened a local office at the Yantai shipyard. It will be fully manned by June and will allow them to monitor the process closely and collaborate with CIMC Raffles. In June, construction will begin on a sister ship to the one now beginning to take shape.
Overall, LNG has the support of the shipping industry, as a SEA\LNG study revealed a strong investment case for LNG as a marine fuel in the container shipping market.