Image: Wartsila

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Wartsila has announced that it will supply its volatile organic compounds (VOCs) recovery technology, LNG fuel gas handling systems and the auxiliary engines for two new shuttle tankers being built for Singapore based AET Tankers at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea. The order, worth in total more than EUR 30 million, was booked in January 2018.

The ships will operate on LNG as the primary fuel, but VOC - the gas evaporating from the oil cargo tanks - will also be utilised as fuel by mixing it with the LNG, thereby reducing the vessels' bunkering needs.

This is made possible by Wartsila's VOC recovery system, which by combining the VOC with the LNG, is said to provide the potential for savings of more than 3,000 tonnes of fuel each year per vessel.

Wartsila says it expects its technology for creating a fuel mix of LNG and recovered VOC, both for the two-stroke main engine as well as the four-stroke auxiliary engines, to ignite the interest of tanker fleet owners around the world.

Timo Koponen, Vice President, Vice President, Processing Solutions, Wartsila Marine Solutions, remarked: "Wartsila is once again ahead of the curve with its VOC recovery technology, which was a key consideration in the award of this contract. The fuel savings efficiency of the system enables a fast payback time, while the reduction in emissions of CO2 equivalents is as much as 40 percent when compared to conventional solutions.

Wartsila's scope of supply for each of these ships includes the VOC recovery plant, the liquefied VOC fuel tank, the fuel mixing unit, the LNG fuel tank and fuel supply system, the gas valve unit (GVU) and two Wartsila 34DF dual-fuel auxiliary engines. The equipment is scheduled for delivery to the yard commencing in the autumn of this year.

The 277-metre-long, 125,000-deadweight-tonne (dwt) tankers are due to operate mainly for Statoil in the North Sea.