HGK Shipping names new future-fuel-ready, diesel-electric tanker

November 1, 2024, by Fatima Bahtić

German shipping company HGK Shipping, a part of integrated logistics group HGK, has held a naming ceremony for its new future-fuel-ready, diesel-electric tanker.

As informed, the naming ceremony for the tanker Monomera took place in Druten, in the Netherlands, on October 30, 2024. The vessel will transport sodium hydroxide between the western German canal system and the ARA ports for the chemical company.

With a maximum payload capacity of 1,809 tonnes, the tanker measures 100 meters in length and 9.5 meters in width. It comes equipped with a diesel-electric drive concept. When combined with an intelligent power management system, this provides particularly low-emission operations with optimized fuel consumption, according to HGK Shipping.

Two empty areas integrated into the ship’s hull, so-called void spaces, also provide room for future energy storage solutions. As a result, the new ship is prepared to use climate-neutral energy sources as soon as they are available, the shipowner highlighted.

“With the ‘Monomera’, we’re setting a clear course toward the future of sustainable inland waterway transport. It’s another step in our construction strategy for new vessels, aimed at preparing our fleet for climate-neutral drive systems as part of the energy transition and setting the stage for programme implementation,” said Steffen Bauer, the CEO of HGK Shipping.

Furthermore, HGK Shipping has made use of the latest computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods when developing Monomera in order to reduce the resistance caused by water and maximize energy efficiency.

According to the company, one of the main innovations on this vessel is its optimized draft, allowing it to transport a load weighing up to 348 tonnes with a draft of just 1.20 meters, even if water levels are low.

Two rudder propellors, each developing 500 kW of drive power, make the tanker particularly suitable for service on canals and effective operations in difficult water conditions, HGK Shipping emphasized.

The vessel’s design was developed at HGK Shipping’s Design Center, which worked in close cooperation with Koninklijke Wijnhoff & Van Gulpen & Larsen, a Dutch subsidiary of HGK Shipping in Druten.

The Severnav shipyard in Romania completed the construction of the hull before the Dutch shipyard De Gerlien van Tiem took over the responsibility for the final interior fitting work up to the time that the vessel was commissioned.

Monomera will sail on a regular service in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the vessel will operate for HGK Shipping’s Liquid Chemicals business unit from now on.

As part of its decarbonization quest, HGK Shipping recently unveiled a design for a river/sea-going gas tanker to better comply with new transport requirements in the energy transition era. Under the project name Vanguard, the inland shipping company has designed Europe’s first river/sea-going gas tanker for the transport of cold liquefied ammonia (NH3) and liquefied CO2 (LCO2).

In June 2024, the company’s environmentally-friendly diesel-electric gas tanker GAS 95 received the Green Award in Gold certification.

The vessel was put into operation on the river Rhine in February 2024 and according to HGK Shipping, represents a new generation of inland waterway vessels.