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The 'Cool Pool' of LNG carriers (LNGCs) powered by fuel-efficient, tri-fuel, diesel-electric (TFDE) propulsion technology consisted of 18 ships as of February 26, according to LNGC owner-operator GasLog.

The figure is one below the 19 TFDE LNG carriers said to form part of the vessel pool at the end of December.

The Cool Pool LNG carrier pooling agreement was signed by Gaslog, Dynagas and Golar on October 1, 2015. It allows the participating owners to optimize the operation of the pool vessels through improved scheduling ability, cost efficiencies and common marketing.

Of the 18 Cool Pool ships with TFDE propulsion, Golar owns 10, Gaslog owns five and Dynagas has three.

GasLog's TFDE LNG carriers are capable of burning natural gas as fuel, which can significantly reduce relevant emissions compared with steam-powered ships.

According to Clarksons, spot rates for a TFDE vessel in the Atlantic Basin soared to $85,000 per day in December - an increase of approximately 90 percent compared to the corresponding period in 2016.

However, by early February, spot rates for TFDE vessels were being quoted at lower rates of $70,000-75,000 per day in the Atlantic Basin and $64,000-69,000 per day in the Pacific Basin.

Back in January, Gaslog announced the order of a 180,000-cubic-metre, dual-fuel vessel with South Korean shipbuilder Samsung Heavy Industries. The vessel is scheduled to be delivered in the third quarter of 2019.

The newbuild is to feature Winterthur Gas & Diesel's (WinGD) X-DF propulsion. The dual-fuel, low-speed engines are said to employ a lean air-gas mixture ignited by the injection of a small amount of liquid fuel to achieve high fuel efficiency, very stable combustion and the low formation of nitrogen oxide (NOx), enabling IMO Tier III compliance in Emission Control Areas (ECAs) without exhaust after-treatment.