UECC Secures Green Finance for Battery Hybrid LNG Car Carriers
United European Car Carriers (UECC), jointly owned by NYK and Wallenius Lines, has signed a contract for three new generation pure car and truck carriers (PCTC) with China Ship Building Trading and Jiangnan Shipyard Group and secured green finance for the deal.
The vessels will be equipped with a battery hybrid LNG solution which will place them beyond IMO’s target for a 40 percent reduction in carbon intensity by 2030. The vessels will be equipped with dual-fuel LNG engines for main propulsion and auxiliaries and with a battery package.
UECC, Jiangnan Shipyard and ship designer Shanghai Merchant Ship Design & Research Institute (SDARI) say they will build the PCTCs according to some of the most innovative and latest energy efficiency criteria. They will meet the Tier 3 IMO NOx emission limitations coming into force the Baltic and the North Sea from 2021.
The vessels will have a length overall of 169 meters, a width of 28 meters and a car carrying capacity of 3,600 units on 10 cargo decks, of which two decks are hoistable. This will enable them to accommodate a multitude of high and heavy and break-bulk mafi cargoes, cargo segments, in addition to the cars, that UECC has built a significant portfolio of over the years. The vessels will have a quarter ramp of 160 metric tons safe working load and a side ramp of 20 metric tons safe working load and can accommodate cargo units up to 5.2 meters high.
UECC has secured approximately $70 million in green financing from Svenska SkeppsHypotek for the new vessels which will be delivered from July 2021 onwards. Securing green financing makes UECC eligible for reductions in borrowing costs.
UECC has clear sustainability ambitions reducing harmful emissions and believes the new vessels will be an important step in this direction. Securing green financing is a further step in the right direction our making our whole value chain, from vessel to finance, more environmental, said UECC’s CFO, Thomas Thue.
“This is a giant leap towards decarbonization, and unlike anything else that has been done previously in our industry, I believe, and something that we are extremely proud of,” said UECC’s CEO, Glenn Edvardsen. “The environment is at the top of UECC's agenda.”
The LNG solution will reduce the CO2 emission by about 25 percent. “We are investing in the future, says Edvardsen. “Our solution will take us beyond IMO’s target for a 40 percent reduction in carbon intensity by 2030.”
As more bio fuels are set to become commercially available in the future, UECC also aims to use carbon neutral and synthetic fuels as part of its future fuel mix.
