Becker Marine’s LNG Hybrid Barge ready for work

The programme of technical trials for Becker Marine Systems’ Hummel LNG Hybrid Barge were successfully completed, right in time for the beginning of the cruise ship season.

The commissioning of the barge for low-emission power supply to cruise ships lying at port in Hamburg can thus start in May 2015. the company said in a statement.

“The operation of all five of the Hummel’s generator sets recently took place as part of  acceptance,“ reported Dirk Lehmann and Henning Kuhlmann, both Managing Directors of Becker Marine Systems.

In collaboration with Bureau Veritas, the overall LNG Hybrid Barge system was tested and a variety of large load impacts and load spikes were simulated. The overall load transfer of 0 to 7.5 megawatts of power was achieved well below the time of two minutes set by the classification society, according to the statement.

“There is thus nothing standing in the way of the LNG Hybrid Barge’s first planned supply of power to cruise ships over the course of May,” said Hans J. Gätjens, Vice President Marine at Bureau Veritas, responsible for the Central Europe region.

The LNG Hybrid Barge was launched in Komárno, Slovakia at the beginning of September 2014 and was christened the Hummel following successful passage to the Port of Hamburg.

It works like a floating power plant and, compared to conventional marine diesel with 0.1% sulphur content, emits no sulphur dioxides or soot. Emissions of nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide are also significantly reduced.