MAN Diesel & Turbo informed that the factory acceptance test of the first ME-GI engine in Japan recently took place at the Tamano Works of Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding.
Overseen by the DNV GL classification society, the engine is the first of two 8S70ME-C8.2-GI units for delivery to VT Halter Marine of Mississippi, USA for installation aboard two 2,400-teu ConRo ships for Crowley Maritime Corporation, USA, the company said in a statement.
Crowley, the marine solutions, transportation and logistics company, ordered the ME-GI engines, along with 3 × MAN 9L28/32DF auxiliary engines for each vessel, in early-2014.
The ConRo ships – with container Lift-On/Lift-Off (LO/LO) and Roll-On/Roll-Off (RO/RO) – will be named El Coquí and Taíno, and are scheduled for delivery in the second and fourth quarters of 2017, respectively.
The vessels, claimed to be two of the world’s first LNG-powered ConRo ships, are designed to travel at speeds up to 22 knots, and carry various sized containers, along with hundreds of vehicles in enclosed, weather-tight car decking.