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Hamworthy has signed a contract to install liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks and fuel systems on board four gas-powered ferries to be constructed at the Remontowa Shipyard in Gdansk, Poland for delivery in the second half of 2012.

The ships, which will be delivered to ship owner Torghatten Nord AS, will serve two routes across Vestfjorden in Lofoten, located in the north of Norway. Both routes are known for their harsh operating conditions.

Hamworthy Oil & Gas Systems will deliver the fuel gas systems as sub-supplier to Rolls-Royce, which has been awarded the contract for complete propulsion systems. Each ship will feature 150m3 capacity storage tanks designed by Hamworthy.

Reidar Strande, Hamworthy Oil and Gas Systems Director LNG, said "LNG is a promising fuel for ships, with greatly reduced emissions compared to regular marine diesel or heavy fuel oil. Due to the establishment of the Emission Control Area for the Baltic Sea and parts of The North Sea a lot of new ships are being equipped with gas engines. By utilising natural gas, SOx, NOx and particulate matter emissions are reduced by up to 80%, while CO2 can be reduced by between 15% and 25%."

Strande said that since natural gas has to be bunkered as LNG, special requirements for fuel handling had to be met. “The fuel has to be evaporated and warmed before it may be used as fuel in a gas engine. Hamworthy Oil & Gas Systems has extensive experience in handling cryogenic liquids and is today utilising this experience as supplier of fuel gas systems for modern gas engine ships.”

Hamworthy will deliver the complete storage and handling systems, including bunkering stations on board to handle refilling of the ships’ 150m3 LNG tanks in less than one hour and evaporation and heating of the LNG from approximately -145°C to +30°C.

“To meet strict maritime requirements the systems are fully redundant, guaranteeing fuel supply under any circumstance,” Strande said. “No fuel pumps are necessary. Natural gas will rather be delivered to the engines by differential pressure between tank and engine. Tank pressure is maintained by controlled evaporation of LNG in a closed cycle with the fuel tank. Bunkering lines and gas lines to the engine are normally installed in ventilated ducts, to eliminate risk of explosion or fire.”

Hamworthy’s LNG storage and handling system (LNG Fuel Gas System) is typically delivered as a complete skid prepared for installation in vessels. All hook up works and interconnecting piping to the vessel systems (e.g. utilities as electricity, heating water, purging, gas to engine and LNG) are performed at yards.