Japanese shipowner’s LNG carriers to sport Norwegian firm’s compressors

South Korean shipyard HD Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has hired Norway’s TMC Compressors to supply marine air lubrication system (ALS) compressors for four liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers the shipbuilder is constructing for Japan’s shipping company NYK Line.

All four LNG carriers are set to feature a combination of HHI’s Hi-ALS air lubrication system and TMC’s energy-efficient frequency-controlled marine ALS compressors, which will be delivered to Korea after being manufactured in Scandinavia.

Upon delivery, scheduled for 2027, the vessels will be chartered by Germany’s EnBW Energie Baden-Wuerttemberg. All four LNG carriers will be 289.9 meters long and 46.1 meters wide, with a cargo tank capacity of 174,000 cubic meters. 

The Norwegian player claims that vessels using its compressors require less fuel than conventional compressors thanks to air bubbles that reduce the frictional resistance between the ship’s hull and seawater.

TMC’s Director of Sales and Business Development, Hans Petter Tanum, noted: “NYK Line will use bubbles to reduce drag, which in turn cuts fuel consumption, operating costs and CO2 emissions. Our compressors will essentially provide the bubbles that enable such cost-efficient sailing operations.”

“Our compressors are of course of the energy-efficient type. We believe this ALS solution is a good fit for NYK Group’s ‘Sail Green, Drive Transformations 2026 – A Passion for Planetary Wellbeing’, which promotes growth strategies with ESG at the core.”

The Norwegian firm recently inked a deal to provide compressors for Vard, which is building a cable-laying vessel (CLV) for Prysmian. It was also the compressor supplier of choice for the Guyana-bound floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel Errea Wittu being constructed by MODEC, as well as for Yinson Production’s FPSO Agogo, destined for Angola.