Hyundai Nears Delivery on its First LNG-Powered Container Ship

Hyundai's first lng-powered container ship — CMA CGM Tenere on sea trials - courtesy Hyundai

Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries is completing the commissioning of its first LNG-powered container ship. The 14,800 TEU ship is expected to undergo its final sea trials and be delivered in September.

Hyundai's ships will join a small but growing segment of the shipping industry. The world's first LNG-powered container ships were introduced in late 2015 and early 2016 built for TOTE. They were designed by Daewoo Ship Engineering Company (DSEC) part of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME) and built at the General Dynamics NASSCO shipyard in San Diego. The two Marlin-class vessels, the 764-foot long Isla Bella and the Perla del Caribe operate between Jacksonville, Florida and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

CMA CGM also ordered nine LNG-powered container ships being built in China. Billed as the world's largest LNG-powered container ship the CMA CGM Jacques Saadé, with the capacity to carry 23,112 TEUs was launched in September 2019.

Hyundai is building six 154,7000 DWT LNG-powered container ships ordered by Eastern Pacific Shipping of Singapore. The class of ships has been chartered to CMA CGM. This first ship will operate as the CMA CGM Tenere. Hyundai expects to complete construction and delivery of the class by the third quarter of 2022. The ships measure 366 meters by 51 meters with a draught of 16 meters and are expected to have a top speed of 22 knots.

According to Hyundai, the ships features include being equipped with a 12,000 cubic meter LNG fuel tank that will make it possible to operate round-trips between Asia and Europe with only one charge. The LNG fuel tank is made of nine percent nickel steel, which Hyundai says can maintain excellent strength and impact toughness even in cryogenic (-163 degrees Celsius) environments.

In addition, they improved safety and the container loading efficiency by optimizing the arrangement and design of the LNG fuel tank, fuel supply system (FGSS), and dual fuel engine required for the LNG propulsion ship.

Each of the ships will be powered by a new generation of MAN B&W 11G90ME-GI main engines with a newly-developed Pump Vaporizer Unit (PVU). According to MAN, the engine is the largest and most powerful (MCR 68,640 kW) gas-engine it has produced setting a new industrial standard for two-stroke propulsion engines. The new engine also features recent, technical developments, including the PVU and Pilot Booster Injection Valve (PBIV), and during the trials demonstrated negligible methane-slip.

The LNG-container ship will be the latest in a series of unique ships from Hyundai Heavy Industries. In July 2018, it delivered the world's first LNG-powered large tanker (114,000-ton class). Currently, the group has orders for 44 LNG-powered ships including bulk carriers, tankers, and container ships.