World’s 1st Boxship Converted to LNG Launched

Wes Amelie, the world’s first containership retrofitted with a liquefied natural gas (LNG) engine was launched on August 23, 2017.

Since May 2017, the 1,000 TEU feeder, owned by Wessels Reederei based in Harem/Ems, has undergone an LNG engine conversion at the German Dry Docks in Bremerhaven.

Wes Amelie, just like its 15 identical sister ships, is operating on the feeder routes between the North Sea and the Baltic Sea.

The conversion was supported by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure and will likely be extended to other ships in the fleet.

Following the launching, Hamburg based company Nauticor was selected to conduct the vessel’s initial LNG bunkering at the Kühlhauskai in the Port of Bremerhaven. In total, four trucks were brought to the German port and transferred LNG to the vessel.

” With the conversion of Wes Amelie, Wessels Reederei has become a pioneer in establishing LNG as fuel for containerships. We are happy to support that effort and are looking forward to future cooperation, taking into consideration that our second LNG bunker vessel will start operations in Northwest Europe next year with a focus on customers in the North Sea & Baltic Sea,” Mahinde Abeynaike, Managing Director Nauticor, said.

With the conversion of the 1,000 TEU vessel, Wessels Reederei is a frontrunner in the use of LNG as fuel for containerships in the Northwest Europe. The ship management company has a fleet of 36 seagoing vessels, comprised of 26 coasters, 4 containerships, and 6 multi-purpose freighters.