James Fisher has taken delivery of Orca Fisher, the first vessel in a series of FKAB T68 chemical and product tankers.

The 6,000-deadweight-tonne (DWT) ship was delivered on 16 March by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Yangzhou) Dingheng. The tanker has a gross tonnage of below 5,000 GT and is designed to operate on LNG, liquefied biogas (LBG) or diesel.

According to FKAB, the hull form has been developed for good performance in harsh weather conditions and incorporates the company’s patented F-bow. The design also places emphasis on crew safety, propeller and rudder performance, engine and propeller optimisation, electrical consumption, heating and cooling demand, environmental protection, and low external and internal noise.

Propulsion is provided by a Wärtsilä 25 four-stroke LNG/LBG dual-fuel engine. FKAB said the engine is able to run as an auxiliary engine during cargo discharge and other low-load harbour operations by using skip-firing mode.

The FKAB T68 design includes MarineLine 784-coated, fully coiled cargo tanks and 12 electric deepwell cargo pumps. The vessels are also fitted with a shaft generator with power take-home (PTH) and variable frequency drive (VFD) for load optimisation.

The tanker complies with IMO Tier III requirements through selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technology. Other features include an economiser and a thermal oil boiler with LNG dual-fuel capability.

The delivery marks the first vessel in the FKAB T68 series being built for James Fisher.