Isle of Man design acceptance for BW LPG conversions

The acceptance – the first for a conversion to LPG as fuel for a very large gas carrier – represents an important milestone for the project partners BW LPG, the Isle of Man Ship Registry, Wärtsilä Gas Solutions, MAN Energy Solutions, and DNV GL.

BW LPG first announced the project to convert some of the LPG carriers to a LPG fuelled propulsion system in August 2018.

The flag state acceptance of the design by the Isle of Man means that the project has been demonstrated to have an equivalent level of safety to methane as a ship fuel under the IGC Code 2016.

“We are very pleased that BW LPG has recognized our expertise in this field and chosen DNV GL as the classification partner for this project,” said Knut Ørbeck-Nilssen, CEO of DNV GL – Maritime.

“This acceptance is the result of all of the partners bringing their exceptional competence and experience to come up with a safe and feasible solution for this innovative project. In addition, the knowledge we have gained from working on the project has resulted in us being able to release a new dedicated LPG notation, which we hope will spur the further interest and uptake of LPG as a ship fuel.”

BW LPG plans to begin the conversions of the first two vessels, BW Leo and BW Gemini, in summer 2020 with completion scheduled for late summer 2020. The other vessels are targeted for conversion at their next drydocking period.