On July 10, BOCOM Leasing, COSCO Shipping and COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers held a naming and maiden voyage ceremony of the first 7500 CEU LNG dual-fuel PCTC (pure car and track carrier) “Liaohekou” at Xiamen COSCO Shipping Car Carriers wharf.
It is reported that the delivered “Liaohekou” is a 7500 CEU dual-fuel automobile ro-ro vessel, built by Xiamen Shipbuilding Industry (XSI) and Mawei Shipbuilding under Fujian Shipbuilding Industry Group, and it will be handed over to COSCO Shipping Car Carriers under COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers for operation.
“Liaohekou” is 199.9 meters long, 38 meters wide and has a combined endurance of 22,000 nautical miles. The PCTC propulsion system is designed as a single engine and single propeller, adopting LNG dual-fuel main engine, single bow side propulsion and electric RORO system, and it is leading in all performance indexes in China. It has 7,500 standard parking spaces on 13 vehicle decks, including 4 elevatable decks for loading passenger cars, trucks, construction machinery and other types of vehicles.
Also, “Liaohekou” meets the strict TIER III emission standards of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), and adopts a number of advanced green technologies, which will significantly save energy and reduce emissions during the operation process. Compared with traditional fuel oil PCTC, it can save about 20% of energy consumption, reduce about 27% of carbon emission, 30% of NOx emission, 99% of sulfide emission and more than 90% of PM particulate emission. Taking the round-trip voyage between China and Europe as an example, using LNG alternative fuel can reduce CO2 emission by more than 2,100 tons per voyage, which can achieve a carbon reduction rate of more than 24%, and will contribute positively to the advancement and implementation of the dual-carbon goal for China’s automotive industry chain.
It is an innovative project of jointly building a PCTC through cooperation among Chinese shipyards, Chinese financial leasing companies and Chinese shipping companies, forming a positive demonstration effect for Chinese financial leasing companies to actively take advantage of its financial leverage function to linking the demand for high-end shipbuilding and shipping logistics.
According to the plan, another 4 vessels ordered by BOCOM Leasing will be delivered from the second half of this year to next year, which will help COSCO SHIPPING Specialized Carriers to transport Chinese automobiles for export, and continue to enhance China’s automobile export logistics industry chain service capability.
It is worth mentioning that at present, Mawei Shipbuilding and XSI, which are under Fujian Shipbuilding Industry Group, have undertaken 12 new shipbuilding orders for 7,500 CEU dual-fuel PCTCs from COSCO Shipping Car Carriers.