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A new gas-powered LNG tanker, which has been delivered to Norwegian shipping firm Knutsen OAS Shipping, could save the company up to $25 million in fuel costs, according to shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI).

The 81,605-deadweight-tonne (dwt) vessel, named La Mancha Knutsen, is an M-type, electronically controlled, gas injection (MEGI)-powered LNG carrier. It has a boil-off gas (BOG) reliquefaction system and a BOG high-pressure compressor.

Additionally, the vessel includes HHI's LNG Fuel Gas Supply System (FGSS) and the Hyundai Integrated Gas Supply System (Hi-GAS system), which allows marine engines to use both diesel and LNG for fuel. According to HHI, ships equipped with the system achieve improved performance and reduced emissions.

HHI's gas treatment system, the HHI Gas Management System, can be used to reliquify boil-off gas (BOG) so that it can be utilized as marine fuel in liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers.

According to HHI, the gas treatment system can reliquefy 100 percent of the BOG and re-store it in the LNG tank, which can later be used as the ship's fuel, whereas the conventional systems can only reliquefy BOG partially.

HHI claims that an LNG carrier equipped with its HHI Gas Management System could save up to 50 percent of the fuel cost in comparison with a standard vessel using heavy fuel oil (HFO) or marine gas oil (MGO), and produce 92, 80 and 23 percent less emissions of SOx, NOx and CO2, respectively.

HHI expects the gas treatment system to save $1 million in fuel expenses per year, or up to $25 million overall if one considers that vessels are utilized on average for 25 years.

At the time of writing, La Mancha Knutsen is travelling along the south-east coast of China (latitude 23.59819, longitude 122.9241), according to vessel tracking data.