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.

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. 

Winterthur Gas & Diesel, the Swiss-based specialist marine propulsion company, has unveiled new technology designed to slash methane emissions and cut fuel consumption in its X-DF dual-fuel engines used by LNG carriers and other vessels.

Winterthur Gas & Diesel, the Swiss-based specialist marine propulsion company, has received type-approval for the biggest and most powerful LNG-powered engines ever built.

Swiss company Burckhardt Compression, whose LNG offerings include the Laby brand of compressors and boil-off gas solutions, said it signed a five-year service agreement covering nine LNG carriers with a total of 12 Laby-GI Compressors onboard. 

German marine engine maker MAN Diesel and Turbo, a supplier of propulsion for many of the world’s first LNG-powered vessels as well as conventional LNG carriers, has been rebranded under the new name MAN Energy Solutions.

MAN Diesel & Turbo, the European maritime equipment and engine maker, said it was selected to provide a complete power package and fuel-gas system for the world’s first fishing vessel with LNG propulsion.

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.