German operator picks Wärtsilä’s CCS-ready scrubbers for its containerships

Finnish technology group Wärtsilä has received a contract to deliver carbon capture and storage-ready (CCS-ready) scrubbers for three containerships owned by German operator Leonhardt & Blumberg.

According to Wärtsilä, the CCS-ready solution will assist Leonhardt & Blumberg in continued regulatory compliance for SOx emissions and enable smooth CCS system adoption in the future. An integrated CCS system, working in harmony with a scrubber system, is based on the principle of removing as many main pollutants from the exhaust as possible, tackling each pollutant in a modular fashion. Once other gases are removed, the remaining exhaust can then be scrubbed for carbon which can be safely stored onboard and disposed of on arrival at port.

Under the contract, Wärtsilä will perform additional design and engineering work as part of CCS-ready scrubber installation to ensure that future retrofits for a full CCS system on the vessels are accounted for.

Following a number of newbuild orders for CCS-ready scrubbers, this will be one of the first retrofit projects prepared for CCS in the marine industry, the company said.

As part of the order, the three 3,600 TEU container vessels owned by Leonhardt & Blumberg will be installed with a CCS-ready, Vessel General Permit (VGP)-compliant, 27.5 MW Wärtsilä scrubber system, commencing in September of this year.

The retrofit engineering and installation of the equipment onboard the vessels will be undertaken by Greentec Marine Engineering, a high-tech service company specializing in marine and offshore engineering services.

“We are working hard to operate our fleet in the most sustainable way possible,” said Tim Goettsche, Fleetmanager at Leonhardt & Blumberg. “This retrofit project with Wärtsilä’s advanced exhaust treatment system represents an exciting step forward in reducing GHG emissions with CCS technology. It will give our ships a head-start in being compliant with future regulatory requirements.”

“This project highlights and strengthens Wärtsilä’s commitment to deliver sustainable solutions for our customers. Our CCS-Ready scrubber technology has been proven in extensive testing over the past two and a half years. It is based on our deep experience and in-house know-how and will deliver a significant contribution to the industry’s efforts to reduce shipping’s environmental impact,” added Sigurd Jenssen, Director, Exhaust Treatment, Wärtsilä Marine.   

Wärtsilä booked its first order for the CCS-ready scrubber systems in 2023. The order included four 8,200 TEU container vessels being built at undisclosed Asian yard to be fitted with Wärtsilä’s CCS-ready 35MW scrubber in an open loop configuration.