On March 23, the first 16,000 TEU dual-fuel container ship built for Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) by Guangzhou Shipbuilding International (GSI), successfully completed the LNG bunkering operation in the Type B tank. The Type B tank LNG bunker capacity is 13,000 cubic meters, which is the largest Type B tank LNG bunker in China.
It is reported that the mainstream LNG containment systems in the current market include membrane tanks and independent tanks, with independent tanks further categorized into Type A, Type B, and Type C. Type B tanks primarily manifest in two forms in the shipping market: independent spherical cargo tanks, abbreviated as “MOSS tanks”, and self-supporting Prismatic shape fuel tanks, known as “SPB tanks.”
SPB tanks combine the advantages of membrane tanks and MOSS tanks. Their prismatic structure ensures high volumetric utilization and low air draught, while internal transverse baffles and a central longitudinal bulkhead effectively reduce liquid sloshing even under partial loading conditions. The 16000TEU large dual-fuel container ship recently constructed by GSI specifically adopts Type B SPB tanks.
During the bunkering period, the vessel synchronously completed the commissioning of BOG compressor, boiler and generator in gas mode. The completion of these debugging works not only effectively saved gas consumption and improved refueling efficiency, but also significantly shortened the debugging cycle of gas equipment, laying a solid foundation for the trial voyage of the first 16,000TEU large dual-fuel container ship.
The completion of these debugging work not only effectively saves gas consumption and improves bunkering efficiency, but also significantly shortens the debugging cycle of gas equipment, which lays a solid foundation for the trial voyage of the first 16,000 TEU dual-fuel container ship.
As the first large-scale LNG dual-fuel container ship in South China, the success of this bunkering marks an important breakthrough in GSI’s Type B tank bunkering technology for large-scale dual-fuel container ships, and accumulates valuable experience for the construction of subsequent large-scale dual-fuel container ships.