Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced on Thursday (Sep22) it has delivered the 84,000 m3 capacity liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carrier LUPINUS PLANET (Kawasaki hull No. 1753) for Nippon Yusen Kabushiki Kaisha. This is the 68th LPG carrier built by the company.

This vessel is a dual-fuel LPG carrier using LPG and low-sulfur fuel oil, and their fifth 84,000 m3 LPG carrier adopting a dual-fuel main engine.

In recent years, in order to effectively reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from international shipping, more vessels are adopting liquefied gases as an alternative to heavy fuel oil on a global scale. This very large LPG carrier is powered by LPG, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and is expected to significantly reduce environmental impact. It is the fruit of the Kawasaki Group’s accumulated knowledge in building LPG and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, and LNG-fueled vessels.

Kawasaki plans to develop and build more LPG-fueled LPG carriers, LPG/NH3 carrier, and other commercial vessels that meet environmental standards, as well as to develop and offer other eco-friendly marine technologies, to contribute to the establishment of a low-carbon/decarbonized society. These products include vessels for transporting liquefied hydrogen, considered to be the next-generation energy source.

Specifications:

Length overall 229.90 m
Molded breadth 37.20 m
Molded depth 21.90 m
Molded draft 11.60 m
Speed Approx. 17.0 kn
Crew complement 30
Gross tonnage 49,943 T
Deadweight 55,091 t
Cargo tank capacity 84,172 m3
Main engine One set of Kawasaki-MAN B&W 7S60ME-C10.5-LGIP diesel engine
Classification/country of registration Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK) / Panama

Features

  • This LPG carrier operates using both LPG and low-sulfur fuel oil. Use of LPG as fuel greatly reduces emission volumes of sulfur oxides (SOx), CO2 and other pollutants compared with use of marine fuel oil. In this way, the new vessel will meet SOx emission standards*1 which were strengthened in January 2020, and EEDI*2 Phase 3 regulations which will further strengthen CO2 emission standards.
  • In order to satisfy restrictions on NOx TierⅢ controls*3 emissions which is implemented by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the main engine and generator are equipped with a Selective catalytic reduction (SCR) System, An exhaust gas purification system to reduce NOx, which allows the ship to navigate in Emission Control Area (ECA).
  • Installation of LPG fuel tanks on the ship's upper deck makes it possible to load fuel-use LPG separate from the ship's cargo LPG. Moreover, a piping system connecting the LPG fuel tanks and LPG cargo tanks enables transferring of extra LPG to the LPG fuel tanks if necessary.
  • This vessel adopts the Kawasaki rudder bulb system with fins (RBS-F) and the semi-duct system with contra fins (SDS-F) which contribute to reducing fuel consumption.