Teekay’s first M-type, Electronically Controlled, Gas Injection (MEGI)-powered LNG vessel, Creole Spirit, has been floated out at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in South Korea.
The vessel, the first of nine LNG vessels powered with M-type engine, is on charter contract with Cheniere and is expected to enter service early 2016.
Teekay is the first ship owner to order a MEGI-propelled LNG carrier, which are designed to be significantly more fuel-efficient and have lower emission levels than other engines currently being used in LNG shipping.
The heart of the MEGI engine consists of the Burckhardt Compressor and the Partial Reliquefaction System.
The MEGI vessels have a consumption of 100 tonnes, up to 30 tonnes lower when compared to the most efficient Dual Fuel Diesel Electric (DFDE) propulsion systems that have daily consumption in the region of 125 to 130 tonnes including sea margin.
The two-stroke engines provided by MAN also pave way for the reduction in the number of cylinders requiring overhaul, the reduction in the size of the complex electrical systems and the introduction of a passive partial reliquefaction system which add to these LNG vessels’ efficiency and further help to reduce the unit freight cost.
Over the next 8 months DSME will install the cargo containment system capable of transporting 174 000 m 3 of LNG and put the ship and its equipment through the required tests and trials.