Wallenius Wilhelmsen orders four LNG dual-fuel car carriers

Norwegian shipping firm Wallenius Wilhelmsen has signed agreements with Jinling Shipyard in China for four pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs).

IMAGE: Illustration of a Wallenius Wilhelmsen LNG-capable car carrier. Wallenius Wilhelmsen

The ships, each with a capacity of 9,900 car equivalent units, will have dual-fuel engines able to run on LNG or conventional marine fuels. They will be delivered from mid-2030.

The shipowner also holds options for up to eight more ships, four for delivery in 2031 and a further four in 2032.

Exercising every option would take its fleet renewal programme to 26 vessels, the company said. The company did not say where the ships will be deployed.

The shipowner had said earlier this month it was in advanced talks with shipyards and had raised $300 million to support the order.

Hong Kong also saw its first LNG bunker delivery to a car carrier this month, when the LNG-capable AICC Fenghuang took on fuel in about six hours before sailing for the Mediterranean.

Container lines have kept ordering too. South Korea’s HMM ordered eight 13,000 TEU LNG-capable container ships for delivery in phases from 2029. France’s CMA CGM contracted engine maker Wärtsilä for 36 LNG dual-fuel engines for 12 container ships of 18,000 TEU under construction at Jiangnan Shipyard. Engine deliveries start in 2027.

By Tuhin Roy

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