2nd LNG-fuelled bulker joins U-Ming’s fleet

Chinese shipbuilder Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding has started off the year with the delivery of a 190,000-ton dual-fuel LNG bulk carrier named Ubuntu Equality.

The giant vessel was built for Taiwanese bulk carrier company U-Ming Marine and it is a sister ship to Ubuntu Harmony, delivered at the end of December.

The ship is equipped with two C-type LNG fuel tanks and MAN Energy Solutions’ high-pressure ME-GI engines which have a drastically reduced methane slippage. The design of the dual-fuel bulker has been independently developed by Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding.

Two more vessels from the batch, Ubunutu Integrity and Ubuntu Loyalty, are slated for delivery from Shanghai Waigaoqiao in 2023.

Each vessel is 299.80 meters long, 47.5 meters wide, 24.70 meters deep, with a design draft of 18.25 meters and a design draft speed of 14 knots.  Based on the data from Vesselsvalue, the two ships have a market value of $56.5 million and a newbuild value of $65 million each.

The four LNG-fuelled bulkers were ordered by U-Ming from Shanghai Waigaqiao in 2020 and they have been chartered by mining giant Anglo-American on long-term deals of 10 years each.

Anglo American has set an ambition to achieve carbon neutrality across its controlled ocean freight activities by 2040, with an interim 30% reduction in emissions by 2030. The said vessels are expected to provide 35% reduction in carbon emissions when compared to standard marine fuel. 

U-Ming has a fleet of over 70 ships, including those owned through joint ventures and those under construction, with a total deadweight of 8.82 million tons and an average age of 6.2 years.