Svanehøj hits record in orders due to LNG-fueled newbuilds increase

Danish marine pump manufacturer Svanehøj says it has quadrupled its sales of fuel pump solutions in 2021 as a record year for new LNG-fueled shipbuilding contracts.

Demand for LNG-fuelled newbuilds is growing across the shipping industry. Because of this, Svanehøj says it is heading for an all-time high order intake. Specifically, it wants to reach a total order intake for the year between $114-121,5 million. This is 50 per cent more than the previous record set in 2014.

Its patented DW fuel pump solution appeared on the market in 2015. It will account for almost 30 per cent of total orders in 2021. According to CEO Søren Kringelholt Nielsen, fuel pump sales have quadrupled compared to 2020, and the many new orders are spread widely across sectors.

“We see a significant increase in orders of fuel pump systems for LNG-fuelled boxships, cruise ships and PCTC vessels. Furthermore, we have received a very large number of orders for LPG carriers, where we supply pump systems for both cargo and fuel.”

Svanehøj has, among other things, secured two significant orders of LNG fuel pump systems. Samsung Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering ordered those for 22 Ultra Large Container Vessels.

Most recently, Svanehøj signed a deal with a Japanese FGSS supplier for six LNG-fuelled Pure Care and Truck Carriers. The end customer is NYK, which is positioning LNG fuel as a bridge solution before it comes to future zero-emission ships.

Also, classification society DNV recently made a relative announcement. It said that by the end of November, a total of 238 LNG-fuelled ships is on order so far this year.

At the same time, statistics from the London-based shipbroker Gibson show that LNG-fuelled tankers stand at 23 per cent of the global tanker order book.

“We see clear indications that many of the ships to be built in the coming years will be built to run on LNG. Therefore, we expect further growth in this segment”, said Nielsen.

“At the same time, a market for new fuel types will emerge, driven by the large-scale investments in Power-to-X. ...Our fuel pump is fully compatible with e-fuels such as green ammonia and methanol.”

The company targets doubling its turnover to $152 million by 2026. In addition to fuel pumps for LNG and future fuels, Svanehøj sees potential in developing pump solutions for the infrastructure for carbon capture and storage (CCS).