Mitsui Engineering wins gas-fired engine orders for ships

By MASUMI SUGA
Bloomberg

Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. won an order to supply four gas-fired engines to Japan’s biggest shipbuilder, underscoring growing interest among its customers to switch to cheaper, cleaner-burning fuel.

The order comes from Japan’s Imabari Shipbuilding Co. for use in two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, Mitsui said in a statement today. Imabari will deliver the LNG tankers to Spanish shipping line Empresa Naviera Elcano SA.

“Shale projects are driving down gas prices, making gas as a fuel cheaper than oil,” Akinori Maruo, general manager of the Tokyo-based company’s diesel engine sales department, said before the announcement.

“So far such engines have been just under consideration” but are now starting to be used more widely, he said.

Mitsui Engineering said it has secured a separate order for what it calls the world’s first engines to burn ethane, Maruo said. Mitsui will supply engines to three liquefied ethane gas carriers to be constructed by China’s Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group and delivered to Germany’s Hartmann Reederei in 2015 and 2016, he said.

The orders represent the latest effort by shipbuilders to help customers comply with tougher environmental regulations, while also capitalizing on the shale boom in the US.

LNG Orders

A total of 1,000 LNG-fueled ships will be delivered globally by 2020, according to DNV GL, the largest safety certifier for the world’s merchant fleet. Almost all ships are currently fueled by bunker oil. 　

To cut pollution, the International Maritime Organization plans to require ships to cut sulfur content in bunker fuel oil to 0.1% from 1% now. The regulation will apply to the Baltic Sea, the North Sea and North American coastal waters.

Mitsui’s Maruo expects engines that burn natural gas or other forms of cleaner energy to make up about 30% of its total diesel engine orders by 2020 from about 1% now.

• Most Read
• Most Commented