Babcock Secures Work on First LPG-Fueled Newbuild

Babcock’s liquid gas solutions business LGE has received a contract for the delivery of LPG cargo handling and fuel gas supply systems (FGSS) for what the company’s said was the world’s first newbuilding vessel to use LPG as a primary fuel source.

According to the company, the systems are set to be delivered for a 86,000 cbm gas carrier ordered by an Asian shipowner.

The ship is set for a January 2021 delivery.

Babcock’s FGSS, in this design using LPG stored in a deck tank, integrates with the cargo handling system for transfer between the two systems during voyages.

The vessel’s cargo handling system will also be equipped with Babcock’s patented Vent Gas Cooler (VGC) technology, which the company said is capable of increasing cargo handling capacity and improving efficiency at lower capital and operating costs.

To ensure the correct LPG fuel delivery condition from the FGSS to the main engine, Babcock said it worked directly with the main engine supplier, MAN Energy Solutions (MAN-ES), for over 18 months.

“This is the first newbuilding project to exploit LPG as a fuel and, as such, is a great showcase for both our companies’ technologies,” René Sejer Laursen, ME-GI Promotion Manager, MAN Energy Solutions, said.

While Babcock did not confirm, the vessel for which the systems are being delivered is likely the very large gas carrier (VLGC) currently under construction at Jiangnan Shipyard for Chinese tanker and gas carrier operator Tianjin Southwest.

In conjunction with the newbuilding order, Babcock has also received a contract to conduct a Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study into an LPG fuel system upgrade as a retrofit onto a number of VLGCs.