Wärtsilä tech ordered for LNG-fueled short-sea cargo quartet

The Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has been contracted to provide liquefied natural gas (LNG) propulsion and storage systems for short-sea cargo vessels being built at the WuHu Shipyard in China.

The ships have been ordered by Wijnne & Barends Chartering based in the Netherlands, a unit of the Dutch Spliethoff Group, Wärtsilä said in a statement on Monday.

The ships are claimed to be among the first-ever of their type to be powered by LNG fuel.

Because of space restrictions on short-sea cargo ships, Wärtsilä said it has developed a customized solution in close cooperation with the naval architect and the owners that allows the Wärtsilä LNGPac storage and supply system to be installed below deck without compromising the cargo hold space.

The four ships will each have a Wärtsilä 34DF dual-fuel main engine, a Wärtsilä gearbox, a Wärtsilä controlled pitch propeller (CPP) with HP nozzle, and a Wärtsilä LNGPac system.

The equipment will be delivered to the yard during the fourth quarter of 2020, and the first vessel is expected to be delivered during autumn 2021.

The 5800 DWT Lo-Lo (lift-on, lift-off) vessels will operate in the Baltic and North Seas and will be Finnish/Swedish Ice Class 1A classified.

Six previously ordered vessels for Wijnne & Barends, which are already under construction, are also being fitted with Wärtsilä main engines and CPP propellers.