Desgagnes’ LNG-fueled asphalt tanker to deliver first cargo soon

Quebec-based Transport Desgagnés has on Thursday officially taken delivery of its first LNG-fueled asphalt tanker recently completed in Turkey.

The Damia Desgagnés asphalt-bitumen-chemical tanker is the first of a series of four carriers, custom-built under a concept developed by Desgagnés and ordered at the Besiktas shipyard located in Yalova near Istanbul.

The Turkish shipyard also recently launched the Mia Desgagnés, the second LNG-fueled chemical tanker being built for Transport Desgagnes, a unit of Groupe Desgagnés.

Desgagnés claims that the Damia Desgagnés is the first dual-fuel powered Canadian-flagged tanker and the first-ever asphalt carrier of this type,

Double-hulled, the vessel is equipped with a Wärtsila 5RT-flex 50DF engine developing a power output of 5,450 kW. It can be powered by any of three types of fuel, namely heavy fuel oil, marine diesel oil or liquefied natural gas (LNG), according to Desgagnés.

The tanker can carry over 13,500 tons of asphalt at a draft of 7.8 meters in seawater. The Damia Desgagnés also holds a Polar 7 certification, meaning that the vessel is able to navigate in ice-laden waters.

Since last August and in addition to the training received in Canada, over 15 Desgagnés crew members and managers traveled to Turkey in order to familiarize themselves with the Damia Desgagnés’s special features and technologies as well as with her dual-fuel propulsion system, Desgagnés said in its statement.

“An intense training effort has been carried out to prepare Desgagnés’s crewmembers to take charge of the Damia Desgagnés and the three other tankers currently in various stages of construction. To date, a total of nearly 2,500 hours of training in the handling of LNG has been given,” the company said.

Desgagnés pointed out that LNG refueling distribution networks for vessels without specific service points and trading various routes remain a major challenge in Canada, but they are under development in collaboration with different partners such as Gaz Métro and the ports of Quebec and Montreal.

The company said it would continue working with the various suppliers to improve and adapt their services to the needs of the marine industry.

The Damia Desgagnés is scheduled to weigh anchor around April 10th. The vessel will most likely make a first delivery in Europe before heading to North America, where it should arrive mid-May, all subject to the cargo that she will carry, Desgagnés added.