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Ship design firm FKAB says its latest designs for the LNG-powered vessels, FKAB L1 and FKAB L2, are the company's 'perfect design' contribution to the development of an efficient and sustainable sea based regional and local distribution system for LNG.

In 2006 FKAB identified natural gas in liquefied form (LNG) as an interesting and realistic alternative to conventional fuels on ships. Since then the company has closely monitored the development and spent significant resources in the development of various designs using LNG as fuel as well as designs used in the supply chain of LNG for ships.

As a result of FKAB's efforts to evaluate potential LNG solutions, the company presented its FESC (FKAB Environmental Ship Concept) at the RoRo2008 in Gothenburg.

FESC is based on its R13-design and highlights the potential benefits of alternative fuels and emission abatement technologies on ships. Within this concept one of the main topics was the implementation of a LNG propulsion system.

Since the launch of FESC, FKAB has continuously kept up the development and focus on gas-propelled solutions through a number of customer-commissioned projects whilst simultaneously spending in-house resources on research and development.

The FKAB L2-design is tailor-made for regional distribution of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). The LNG is stored in three insulated cargo tanks of bilobe type, classified by IMO as "Independent Type C". They have spherical heads and a design pressure of 4,1 barg. Each tank is equipped by two submerged deep well pumps for easy discharging. The discharge capacity is 6 x 300 m3/h.

The FKAB L2 main fuel is boil-off gas and regasified LNG from the cargo tanks. This will reduce fuel cost when operating the vessel. The L2 is designed to be as energy efficient as possible with a slender hull and a heat recovery system. These measures reduce costs further and will also reduce the environmental footprint of the vessel. To maintain flexibility and for emergency use the machinery is of dual fuel type and the vessel has capacity to carry MGO as fuel also.

The company's previous concept design FKAB L1 is a bunker tanker used for the distribution of LNG and light marine oils, which was launched at last year's Nor-Shipping 2009 trade fair in Oslo.