Chinese-Built Tankers For UK Shortsea Fleet
The 93m newbuild has been constructed by China Merchants Jinling shipyard in Yangzhou, from where she departed on November 28. Second-of-class Lady Maria Fisher is currently fitting out, and is due in early 2023.
The vessels will enter the fleet traded by the group’s tankship specialist James Fisher Everard, and will enable the company to better serve existing long-term contracts with oil majors and other shippers.
As IMO Type 2-categorised cargo carriers, the tankers will provide greater flexibility in responding to market demand. The tanks have been treated throughout with the MarineLINE coating supplied by Advanced Polymer Coatings. The load capacity, equating in each case to 6,150m3 at 98% filling, exceeds that of the two tankers they supersede.
Key cargoes for the James Fisher Everard operation, which comprises 16 double-hulled product tankers up to 35,000dwt, 15 of which are in the 3,500-13,000dwt range, include petrol, diesel, kerosene, ‘easy’ chemicals, and increasing volumes of biofuels.
The new ships are among the first of their type in the short-sea traffic to have been specified with dual-fuel propulsive power. Korean-developed medium-speed engine technology has been nominated, in the shape of a seven-cylinder HiMSEN H27DFP unit designed and manufactured by Hyundai Heavy Industries. Rated for an output of 2,170kW, the machinery allows for full operation on LNG as a cleaner alternative to conventional marine gas oil (MGO).
Other measures incorporated to raise efficiency and hoist environmental standard include hydrodynamic optimisation to the expected operating profile, and adoption of a centralised waste heat recovery system.
Each vessel is capable of achieving a 45% reduction in carbon emissions as well as curbing NOx by 93% and cutting SOx by 45%. Aside from the course that environmental legislation is taking, energy groups and industrial users are increasingly focusing on the issue of carbon footprint in logistic chains. James Fisher & Sons’ chief executive officer Jean Vernet said “The addition of our first dual-fuel propulsion vessel, Sir John Fisher, to our existing fleet will help us serve our customers’ needs in a more sustainable, less carbon-intensive way, while helping to realise our own sustainability ambitions.”
Newbuild supervision in China has been undertaken with recourse to Piraeus-based Alpha Marine Consulting. Although progression of the project in the face of the Covid pandemic has been a challenge to all concerned, China Merchants Jinling’s success in landing the order is testament to Chinese yards’ growing penetration of the European market for short-sea tonnage.
