LNG-fueled Fure Viten starts carbon-neutral voyage

Swedish shipping company Furetank Rederi AB has announced that its LNG-powered tanker, Fure Viten, departed China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Yangzhou for its first zero-emission journey.

With the combination of fuel-saving solutions, the 17,999 dwt tanker is designed to reach a very low energy efficiency design index (EEDI) value of 4.65.

According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the requirement for a vessel the size of Fure Viten is to reach below 9.37 points and with reaching the value of 4.65, Fure Viten is considered as “already meeting the emission targets for 2050.”

“We will operate the ships we build now for the coming 20 years, so we have put a lot of effort into investigating what is the best possible technology that we can invest in today. Climate change is a reality and we believe that politicians mean what they say. Thus, if we are to survive as a shipping company in the future, we must do our absolute best to reduce our climate and environmental impact,” said Lars Höglund, CEO of Furetank.

As informed, the new design features batteries which help reduce the use of auxiliary engines, a ducted propeller increases thrust and reduces power requirement, an improved hull shape minimizes drag, and the main engine and shaft generator use variable frequency to increase propeller efficiency and reduce fuel consumption.

Fure Viten, as well as its sister vessel Fure Vinga, is an ice class 1A tanker equipped with dual-fuel engines capable of running on liquefied biogas (LBG) or liquefied natural gas (LNG) with a cargo capacity of 20,300 cubic meters.

Both vessels are the first tankers in Europe that are fully equipped to operate the energy-demanding cargo pumps with 6.6 kV high voltage shore power, the company claims.

“The next step will be to operate the ships completely without fossil fuels. We are in the process of securing the supply of larger quantities of biogas within a year or so, through an exclusive agreement with a supplier. My view is that in 2030 we will run these vessels largely on LBG with zero fossil emissions”, added Höglund.

With the new propulsion and technical optimizations, the vessels are expected to reduce carbon emission by 55%, while the emissions of acidifying sulfur oxide (SOx) and hazardous particles (PM) are to be completely eliminated.

Fure Viten is the latest vessel in a series of eight vessels so far, designed by Furetank and FKAB Marine Design in collaboration with Wärtsilä.