Maritime services company Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM) and UK’s Babcock International Group are collaborating to develop a Gas Supply Vessel (GSV) for liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuelling operations.
The 7,500m³ vessel will be used to fuel ships, including ferries, containers, cruise ships and other shore-based gas consumers in the Baltic Sea. It will be the first vessel of its kind to utilise Babcock’s FGSV0™ technology, the companies said.
The GSV will be built at Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Ulsan, South Korea. The keel is scheduled to be laid down in February 2018 with the cargo tanks delivered in January 2018. The vessel is due to be launched in April 2018 with delivery expected in September 2018.
BSM and Babcock have developed the patent pending FGSV0™ technology to deliver LNG from the GSV into the receiving vessel with zero emissions to the environment during normal operations, the parties said. The vessel is also designed to meet the International Maritime Organisation’s global cap of 0.5% on shipping-related sulphur emissions which will be enforced from January 2020, as well as the creation of Emission Control Areas (ECAs) in the North Sea, Mediterranean, Baltic and the US Gulf among other areas.
“As innovators in Liquefied Natural Gas technology, working on this ‘first of its kind’ programme is a great opportunity to further expand our reach into the international LNG arena,” Ian Lindsay, Babcock Managing Director for Energy & Marine Technology, said.