Kaimana Hila dual-fuel retrofit follows that of sister ship Daniel Okay. Inouye.
Matson Navigation Company (NYSE: MATX) is to transform the principle engine of its containership Kaimana Hila from an MAN B&W S90ME-C10.5 unit to a dual-fuel ME-GI unit able to operating on LNG.
Honolulu-headquartered Matson is exercising an possibility contained in a contract it signed with MAN Energy Solutions in June 2022 to carry out an equivalent dual-fuel retrofit conversion on sister ship Daniel Okay. Inouye.
Both ships had been constructed by Philly Shipyard.
The Kaimana Hila was delivered in 2019 and MAN Energy Solutions’ after-sales division, MAN PrimeServ, will carry out the three,600 TEU vessel’s retrofit.
“This order is the latest example in an increasing trend of owners choosing dual-fuel retrofits for their existing vessels in service to achieve fleet-transformation goals while simultaneously gaining benefits in terms of upcoming regulations such as CII and EEXI,” stated Klaus Rasmussen, head of initiatives and PVU gross sales at MAN PrimeServ. “Retrofitting an MAN B&W engine to dual-fuel running is straightforward as our standard, electronically-controlled diesel engines are constructed as ‘dual-fuel ready’ and therefore readily retrofittable. Such retrofits offer a viable pathway to shipowners that wish to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint by 2050.”
“This will be the third vessel Matson is retrofitting with dual-fuel LNG capability. Each retrofit is a meaningful step toward achieving our corporate sustainability goals to achieve a 40% reduction in Scope 1 greenhouse gas fleet emissions by 2030 and net-zero Scope 1 GHG emissions by 2050,” stated Capt. Jack Sullivan, Matson’s senior vp, vessel operations & engineering.
The take-up of the dual-fuel retrofit possibility comes on the heels of Matson’s announcement final November that it had positioned a $1 billion order with Philly Shipyard for the development of three 3,600 TEU Aloha class LNG-powered newbuilds that will even be powered by ME-GI engines.
DUAL-FUEL RETROFITS: DECARBONIZATION PATHWAY
Since its first two-stroke ME-GI (LNG) retrofit in 2015, MAN Energy Solutions has constructed a formidable record of references and expanded its portfolio of dual-fuel retrofits to additionally embody fuels akin to LPG and methanol.
Retrofitting a dual-fuel engine is without doubt one of the only methods to derive higher effectivity and profitability from a delivery fleet, says MAN ES. Delivering the gas flexibility to make the most of optimum gas costs, the conversion may also assist vessels adjust to IMO emission targets and prolong their operational lifetimes to convey a higher return on investments.
