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German shipping company Wessels Reederei has confirmed that it has signed a contract with MAN Diesel & Turbo at the Europort exhibition for maritime technology to retrofit the 8L48/60B main engine of its 1,000-TEU container ship Wes Amelie for dual-fuel operation. The vessel is set to be the first of its kind in the world to be converted to an LNG-capable propulsion system.

By running on LNG, the Wes Amelie will slash emissions of sulphur oxide by over 99 percent, nitrogen oxide by approximately 90 percent, and carbon dioxide by up to 20 percent, MAN Diesel & Turbo says.

In a statement, Dr. Thomas Spindler, Head of Upgrades & Retrofits - MAN PrimeServ Four-Stroke - MAN Diesel & Turbo, commented: "We are very excited about the signing of this contract and view its potential for broader adoption within the maritime sector as significant. We enjoy an excellent cooperation with Wessels and commend their willingness to adopt our dual-fuel technology."

Christian Hoepfner, general manager at Wessels Reederei, remarked: "With each rebuild, we are creating an increasing demand for LNG as a clean fuel. Only in this way - and not only through appeals - can the development of an LNG infrastructure continue to gain momentum."

Due to the long delivery time of LNG tanks, the engine retrofit is due to commence in the fourth quarter of 2016. Full operational usage of LNG as fuel is planned for early December, 2016.

Wes Amelie and the Wessels Reederei fleet

The Wes Amelie is a feeder vessel that was launched in 2011 and operates in the North and Baltic Seas.

When selecting a vessel for conversion, special attention was paid to the scalability of the engineering services as well as the development costs, in order to significantly reduce the cost of follow-up projects.

In this respect, the Wes Amelie has 23 sister ships, 16 of them structurally identical, which would allow follow-up projects to be easily implemented.

With a current fleet of 43 ships, Wessels Reederei is one of the largest managers of coastal vessels with 33 coasters, four container and six multipurpose vessels in its fleet portfolio.

The German company's fuel-saving and emission-reducing initiatives include the introduction of emissions optimisation measures, software implementation to increase energy efficiency and the development of alternative propulsion systems.