Shipping company Teekay has launched the Aurora Spirit, its first shuttle tanker from the E-Shuttle Tanker series, from the G3 floating dock at South Korea’s Samsung.
The steel cutting ceremony for Teekay’s first shuttle tanker from the E-Shuttle Tanker series was held at Samsung’s shipyard in Geoje, South Korea in July 2018.
Teekay said on Monday that the launching ceremony took place in late March. The next steps are to install the LNG tank, various VOC equipment and the BLS module, and then start sea trials later this year.
According to the company, the new and innovative shuttle tanker design will significantly reduce emissions and fuel consumption. The 130,000 dwt vessels will operate on both liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the primary fuel, and a mixture of LNG and recovered volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as secondary fuel.
The E-Shuttle has battery packs for flexible power distribution and blackout prevention. It reduces bunkering requirement and CO2 emissions by approx. 50%’ instead of ‘annual emission reduction potential is estimated at up to 42%, with fuel consumption reduced by up to 22% compared to traditional shuttle tankers.
It is also worth reminding that Samsung earlier this month started construction of Teekay’s fourth shuttle tanker under the E-Shuttle Tanker series. The first steel cutting ceremony for the LNG-powered vessel, to be named Current Spirit, was held on Monday, March 4.