Beihai Shipbuilding pushes ahead with CMB.TECH’s ammonia bulker fleet

Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry (BSIC), an arm of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), has marked new construction milestones for four future-proof vessels being built for Belgium-based shipowner CMB.TECH.

As announced by CSSC in a statement on October 16, Beihai Shipbuilding has floated out a pair of brand-new 210,000 dwt ammonia-fueled bulk carriers (Hulls no. 45 and 54) from the dry dock and held a keel laying ceremony for two 210,000 dwt ammonia-ready bulkers (Hulls no. 56 and 63).

Regarding the ammonia-powered duo, officials from CSSC have specified that four main auxiliary engines and one auxiliary boiler have finally been installed, connected and prepared for testing. The ‘milestone’ marked the readiness of the newbuilding’s main power generation and steam systems prior to sea (or dock) trials.

It is understood that, before the float-out, inspections were conducted to verify that the units’ essential onboard systems were fully integrated and functional for further examination.

More importantly, owing to their ability to be powered by ammonia, the bulk carriers are expected to achieve a ‘tremendous’ reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as well as a 75% (or potentially higher) cut in nitrogen oxides (NOx).

As informed, the keel-laying ceremony for the subsequent bulkers was held at the shipbuilder’s Dock No. 2. Being ammonia-ready, the vessels have spaces reserved for future retrofitting to run on ammonia as fuel, CSSC has said.

The construction milestones for the four ships build on several years of collaboration between CSSC, or, to be precise, Beihai Shipbuilding, and the Antwerp-headquartered CMB.TECH.

Since the summer of 2021, the two companies have put pen to paper for contracts concerning the building of over 30 units, including at least five very large crude oil tankers (VLCCs) and as many as twenty-eight 210,000-ton bulkers.

In April this year, BSIC handed over one of the ships from the bulker series, namely, a 300-meter-long ammonia-ready unit that was reportedly the seventh vessel to be delivered by Beihai Shipbuilding up until that time.

At the end of the following month, BSIC held a christening ceremony for two of CMB.TECH’s 210,000 dwt bulkers, the Mineral Cesko and Mineral Polska, which were classed by the UK-based classification society Lloyd’s Register (LR).