CSSC-Jiangsu Nantong built the world's largest dual-fuel car carrier

On the afternoon of August 5th, the world's first 3800-car dual-fuel automobile carrier at Nantong CSSC Kawasaki officially commenced construction. This marks the successful completion of the ship's R&D, design, and procurement of key equipment in a short period of time by Nantong CSSC Kawasaki, smoothly entering the substantive construction phase. Han Chengmin, General Manager of the Chinese side of Nantong CSSC Kawasaki, Masakata Mizuno, General Manager of the Japanese side, Chen Gong, Party Secretary, and representatives from the ship owner and classification society attended the warm and simple launch ceremony.

This vessel is an ice-class strengthened ship independently researched and designed by Nantong CSSC Kawasaki. It has an overall length of 181 meters, a width of 30 meters, a depth of 30.2 meters, and a design speed of 18.6 knots. The entire ship has 10 decks. In addition to loading vehicles such as cars and trucks, it can also load other packaged goods. Two of the decks are lift decks, which can flexibly adjust the height according to the size of the cargo.

In terms of ship design, by optimizing the structure, adjusting the layout and center of gravity, the ship's stability is further improved, and it meets the shipowner's stringent additional stability requirements; the wheelhouse adopts an advanced protruding, fully enclosed, double-decker design, which is transparent front and rear, with a clear view; the bow and stern of the ship are equipped with sharp ice knives to greatly enhance the ice-breaking ability in ice areas. The ship's design environmental temperature is -25℃, and many antifreeze measures are adopted to ensure that outdoor lamps, antennas, cables and other facilities operate normally under ultra-low temperatures in high-cold regions. The main engine, generator, and auxiliary boiler all use a dual-propulsion system of LNG fuel and fuel oil, which can be switched flexibly according to the sailing area. Without using fuel oil, a single filling of natural gas (LNG) can meet all the needs of the main and auxiliary engines for one voyage. After completion and delivery in the second half of 2016, it will operate in the Baltic Sea region.

As a new type of green and environmentally friendly dual-fuel propulsion system automobile carrier, this ship not only has a significant decrease in traditional fuel consumption compared with conventional automobile carriers, but also when using natural gas (LNG) as fuel, it can basically achieve zero emissions of SOx and particulate matter, while effectively reducing CO2 and NOx emissions, better meeting the increasingly stringent environmental requirements of the International Maritime Organization and European regions.

Relevant personnel from Nantong CSSC Kawasaki stated that the service area of this ship belongs to the European Economic Area, which strictly controls sulfur oxide emissions and has extremely high environmental protection requirements. In addition to meeting the relevant requirements of the Norwegian government, the flag state, it must also comply with some regulations of EU countries. Therefore, using LNG clean energy as power has become the first choice. However, when the trade volume in the service area decreases, this type of ship will be deployed to other global routes, and traditional fuel oil can be used as a power supplement.

It is understood that this ship, as the world's largest car carrier using both LNG and fuel oil, has the characteristics of "dual high"—high technical content and high construction specifications—and it took only 18 months from contract signing to steel plate cutting, with great difficulty, many challenges, and a tight schedule. Nantong CSSC Kawasaki attaches great importance to the design and construction of this ship. From the beginning of the project, a company-level construction committee was established to coordinate the progress of the project.

As the earliest Chinese shipbuilding enterprise to deliver large automobile carriers, Nantong CSSC Kawasaki has previously built 5000 and 6200-car automobile carriers in batches. Unlike conventional automobile carriers, Nantong CSSC Kawasaki, through the research, development, design, and construction of dual-fuel propulsion system automobile carriers, has not only optimized and improved the product series of this ship type, but will also further establish its leading position in the industry in energy saving, environmental protection, and high-tech ship types, and also marks Nantong CSSC Kawasaki's firm step into the new field of designing and building LNG-related ship types.