LNG

Alfa Laval, the Swedish specialist company offering maritime equipment for heating, cooling and gas solutions and exhaust cleaning among many other pieces of equipment, has signed an accord with South Korean shipyard K-Shipbuilding (KSB) for Alfa Laval’s OceanGlide product.

Accelleron Industries AG, a market leader in high-powered turbochargers used in LNG-fuelled ships, has been successfully spun-off from ASEA Brown Boveri (ABB), the Swiss-Swedish power technology group.

Accelleron’s shares are now trading on the SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich under the ticker symbol “ACLN”.

The stock was first priced at 24.75 Swiss francs ($25.50) per share.

The listing follows the approval by ABB shareholders for the spin-off of Baden, Switzerland headquartered Accelleron at ABB’s extraordinary general shareholder meeting on September 7.

“As an independent business, Accelleron will now focus on implementing its own, independent growth strategy with an attractive cash generation profile,” said a statement.

“This will build upon Accelleron’s position as a market leader in heavy-duty turbocharging for the marine and energy industries,” it added.

The cruise liner “AIDAnova” was the first in its class to be operated on purely LNG fuel and uses Accelleron’s TPL-C turbochargers.

Legacy

“I am excited about the opportunities ahead, building on our 100-year legacy with ABB and our position as the market leader in high-power turbocharging,” said Oliver Riemenschneider, Chairman of Accelleron's Board.

“We have an impressive growth strategy driven by our leading technology and services offering, coupled with our commitment to research and development,” added Riemenschneider.

“I am confident that we are well positioned to take advantage of global megatrends and deliver compelling results for our stakeholders,” he stated.

The statement added that “sustainability” was at the center of Accelleron’s business as the company is a pioneer in reducing fuel consumption and improving the emissions profiles for customers.

“Accelleron is well placed to capitalize on the opportunities presented by renewable energy and sustainable transportation, with its best-in-class product portfolio, its leading R&D capabilities and its acknowledged innovation,” added company.

Burckhardt Compression, the Swiss-based LNG equipment-maker for LNG shipping and compressor equipment for other sectors, reported a rise in fiscal first-half operating income as sales gathered pace and earnings per share increased. 

Burckhardt reported “significantly higher’ order intake of 450.7 million Swiss francs ($493.5M), up 48.7 percent from 303M francs ($332M) in the year-ago period with the Systems Division posting a 78 percent rise in sales and the Services Division reporting an 11.2 percent increase.

Operating income (EBIT) at Group level increased to 26.3 million francs compared with 26M francs in the prior-year period.

Net profits at the Winterthur, Central Switzerland-based company were slightly lower at 17.9M francs versus 19M francs in the first-half of 2020.

“The reasons for this are higher financial expenses resulting from a 100M Swiss francs bond issued in September 2020 as well as currency effects,” added Burckhardt.

Earnings per share attributable to Burckhardt shareholders increased significantly from 4.73 francs to 5.25 francs.

One of Burckhardt’s key new products in the LNG shipping sector is its Laby GI Compressor type LP250, the world’s first oil-free reciprocating high-pressure fuel-gas compressor in service.

Burckhardt’s fuel-gas compressor system plays an important role on LNG carriers to help maximise fuel efficiency.

Expansion

In addition to its Swiss operations, Burckhardt has expanded in recent years to run businesses in the US, Japan and China.

“Markets continued to recover in the wake of the various lockdowns imposed in all parts of the world during last year,” said Burckhardt.

“Asian markets, especially China, but also Central Asia, continued to recover. The European business regained momentum as well, leading to some attractive orders,” the company added.

“The US investment climate was still weak in the markets relevant to us, except for clean fuel technologies,” stated Burckhardt.

Burckhardt gave a qualified outlook for fiscal 2021 as a whole and currently expects group sales of between 620M francs to 650M francs and higher profit margins.

“This assumes that there will be no further serious outbreaks of Covid-19 in markets relevant to Burckhardt and that the economy continues to recover,” the company concluded. 

Germany has extended the deadline for grants for equipping and retrofitting seagoing vessels to use LNG as marine fuel for another year, while LNG trucks on German motorways will continue to be except from paying tolls.

French energy major Total said it signed a pioneering agreement to charter its first two Very Large Crude Carrier-type oil tankers equipped with liquefied natural gas propulsion.

Dec 24 (LNGJ) - Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Co. said it delivered the first LNG fuel supply system for dual-fuel marine engines. This system will be installed onboard the first LNG-powered pure car carrier (PCC) built in Japan. The vessel is currently under construction at Shin Kurushima Toyohashi Shipbuilding in Aichi Prefecture on Honshu Island. The Fuel Gas Supply System (FGSS) has been developed by Yokohama-based Mitsubishi Shipbuilding utilizing LNG and vaporized gas-handling technology.

“The FGSS consists of LNG fuel tanks, LNG fuel gas supply units and control units and is delivered in modules, which is expected to contribute to the optimum design of the cargo space and help the shipyard to shorten the installation period,” said Mitsubishi. “Mitsubishi Shipbuilding has also provided the shipbuilding yard with the engineering service and technical support relating to the gas-handling of the ship,” it added.

Sept 6 (LNGJ) - Rolls-Royce has launched its latest in a series of liquefied natural gas-fuelled marine engines at the international maritime exhibition in the German port city of Hamburg. The company said power output of the LNG-fuelled B36:45 engine is identical to that of the liquid-fuelled B33:45 at 600kW per cylinder at 750 revs per minute. “This new engine builds on the success of the Bergen B35:40-series engine and offers a variety of new benefits to our customers, including rapid response to changes in load and speed, high reliability and clean burning,” said Kjell Harloff, Senior Vice President for Rolls-Royce Commercial Marine Engines.

German marine engine maker MAN Diesel & Turbo has supplied the propulsion for the world’s first LNG-fueled bulk carrier delivered in South Korea to work on the Asian nation’s coastal trade.

The bulk carrier, the “Ilshin Green Iris”, has been delivered from the Hyundai Mipo Dockyard in Korea to its local owner Ilshin Logistics.

The 50,000 deadweight-ton bulk carrier is powered by a single MAN B&W 6G50 electronically-controlled, gas-injection (MEGI) two-stroke engine.

The ship and its propulsion have been classed by Lloyds Register and the Korean Register and in compliance with the International Gas Fuel (IGF) Code.

The “Ilshin Green Iris” has been chartered by South Korean steelmaker, POSCO, to transport limestone cargoes in the local Korean trade.

“We are very pleased to be part of this exciting project and to see our dual-fuel ME-GI engine win favour in yet another market segment,” said Bjarne Foldager, Vice President of Sales for the two-stroke business at MAN Diesel & Turbo.

“We look forward to following its progress,” he added.

The “Ilshin Green Iris” has a Type ‘C’ LNG fuel tank with a capacity of 500 cubic metres and comprised of a material – high-manganese austenitic steel – newly developed by POSCO that is specially designed for cryogenic LNG and liquefied gas-storage applications.
MAN said its successful MEGI engine has now accounted for more than 200 orders to be installed in LNG carriers, container vessels, and now bulk carriers.

“The ME-GI engine provides ship-owners and operators with a peerless solution within environmentally friendly and high-efficiency, two-stroke technology,” said the company.

“The negligible methane slip of the MEGI engine makes it the most environmentally friendly, two-stroke technology available,” added MAN.

The German engine and turbomachinery maker is also building a new test facility in South Korea in partnership with Hyundai Heavy Industries that will include improving LNG equipment and dual-fuel engines.

The test and gas facility will be located at the Port of Ulsan in South Korea at Hyundai’s Engine & Machinery Division (HHI-EMD) works and is scheduled to begin operation in early 2019.

“It will be the first test engine with online remote control, supporting MAN’s digitization strategy. In this respect, the test engine will also be connected to MAN's research and control centre in Copenhagen, enabling the company’s research engineers to closely follow and enhance the testing of future engine technologies,” said MAN.

MAN, which has operational facilities in Denmark, said the MAN-Hyundai venture will expand research and development test capacity as part of its strategy to improve dual-fuel gas engines using LNG and other traditional fuels.

The company has chosen Hyundai as its partner as it is among the leading global shipbuilders for LNG carriers and also has plans to construct a new wave of gas-powered vessels for container, cargo and energy companies to meet emission-control regulations.

Jan 5 (LNGJ) - Cummins Westport Inc., the Vancouver-based maker of natural gas truck engines, said it received certifications from both the US Environmental Protection Agency and the Air Resources Board in California for its newest ISX12N natural gas engine. “Cummins Westport’s 2018 product line offers customers ultra-low emissions with reliable performance,” said Bart van Aerle, President of Cummins Westport. “The ISX12N near-zero emissions natural gas engine provides truck and bus customers with an industry-leading alternative fuel option for demanding applications,” added Aerle. All CWI engines offer customers the choice of using either liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG) or renewable natural gas (RNG), a fuel made from organic waste.