Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD) said its low-speed dual-fuel engines have been selected to propel the first ever gas-fuelled Afrax crude oil tankers.
Under a contract signed in March 2017, SCF Group, Russia’s largest shipping company, has chosen 7X62DF engines from WinGD to propel a series of four LNG-fuelled Aframax-class tankers.
The ships will be built by Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) of South Korea at its shipyard in Samho, while the 7X62DF engines will be built by HHI’s Engine & Machinery Division (HHI-EMD) in Ulsan, South Korea, WinGD said in its statement.
As well as the engine designs, WinGD will also supply its engine diagnostic system which targets increased availability via monitoring, lower fuel costs via engine performance optimizing and extension of predicted times between overhaul (TBO) of components.
The LNG-fuelled Aframax crude oil tankers have a capacity of 114,000 dwt. The vessels are designed to ice-class 1A and are scheduled to operate primarily in the Baltic and North Seas.
Sovcomflot has a deal with Shell Western LNG B.V., a unit of the Hague-based LNG giant Shell, for the supply of liquefied natural gas for the Aframax crude oil tankers.