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India's Bharati Shipyard is said to be in the process of designing the first liquefied natural gas (LNG)-powered vessel to be built in the country, The Economic Times reports.

"Today, we are in the design stage and will start constructing the vessels from mid 2009 and expect to deliver them by the second half of 2010," said Sauvir Sarkar, president (design) of Bharati Shipyard.

The company has so far received orders for two Roll on-Roll off (Ro Ro) vessels from leading North Sea shipping line, Sea Cargo AS. The ships will be designed to use LNG as ship propulsion fuel at a cost of approximately $40 million each.

According to Sarkar, the two main benefits of the new vessels will be a decrease in bunker costs and a significant reduction in emissions.

The 5800 deadweight tonne (dwt) ships will be built at Bharati's Dhabhol and Goa facilities with a single engine propulstion. They are expected to have a fuel storage capacity large enough for the vessels to be able to operate for up to 10 days.

The ship's design has been kept simple, which Sarkar says also helps to reduce the risks involved in gas installations. He also mentioned that a reduction in engine room equipment and tanks plus improved comfort levels in engine rooms are significant advantages in using the LNG propelled ships.

According to Sarkar, a reduction in engine room equipment would lead to reduced maintenance schedules for owners and eliminate the need to deal with heavy oil and steam, which is required for conventional diesel engine propelled vessels.

He added that the gas engine provides for a cleaner engine, with reduced wear, reduced lube oil consumption and longer change intervals.

Sarkar said that whilst the cost of building an LNG vessel are approximately 20 percent higher than constructing a ship that runs on heavy fuel, he hoped that the fuel cost savings, reduced maintenance, low emissions and higher comfort levels would be an attractive proposition to owners and more than offset the higher costs involved.

"Now that India has the capability to develop LNG-fueled ships, LNG is easily available across the country and there is mandatory requirement to reduce emission levels in the country, it is time that we go for more of such vessels.

"Given the fact that most of world fleet and Indian fleet are made up of single engine-run ships, the advantage of going for LNG driven vessels with this concept are huge. For Bharati, as a leading shipbuilder for the offshore sector, the next step would be to design tugs & offshore vessels powered by LNG," said Sarkar.

Other companies already involved in developing LNG technology for fuelling ships include Finnish engine manufacturer Wärtsilä. In November 2008, the company received its first orders for its three 6-cylinder Wärtsilä 34DF engines. This multi-fuel engine that is able to run on either marine diesel oil, heavy fuel oil or natural gas.

Meanwhile, last year Japanese firm Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) successfully tested a liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fueled shore power supply system on the containership MOL Enterprise. The electricity was supplied to the 4,500 TEU vessel at the port of Los Angeles.