Wärtsilä working on LNG dual-fuel biomethane-compatible engines for 12 CMA CGM container ships
Wärtsilä plans to deliver the engines for shipping company CMA CGM’s 12 LNG-powered dual-fuel container ships this year. The first vessel will start operations in the third quarter of 2023.
PHOTO: An en route LNG powered containership belonging to CMA CGM. Wärtsilä
LNG can lower emissions of sulphur oxide, nitrogen oxide and particulates, “and achieves a first step toward decarbonisation,” says Wärtsilä.
“Both CMA CGM and Wärtsilä have a common strategy in applying LNG solutions to prepare the way towards carbon free shipping,” says Håkan Agnevall, president and chief executive, Wärtsilä.
Of CMA CGM’s order, six vessels of 13,000 TEU capacity are being built by Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding, while six other 15,000 TEU vessels are being constructed at Jiangnan Shipyard in China.
The engines are also compatible with biomethane, synthetic methane and e-methane.
In December, CMA CGM said its dual-fuel LNG fuelled fleet is e-methane ready and comprises 20 in-service vessels. The fleet will expand to 44 vessels by 2024.
The global fleet of LNG-fuelled and LNG-ready vessels has grown exponentially in recent years and added 68 vessels last year, according to shipping classification society DNV. Another 169 vessels are on order for this year.
Looking ahead towards 2028, container ships are by far the most likely ship type to opt for LNG as a future fuel, with 98 ships on order, followed by 56 car carriers and 55 crude oil tankers.
