NYK welcomes 2nd LNG-powered RoRo into the fleet
NYK welcomes 2nd LNG-powered RoRo into the fleet - Offshore Energy
NYK welcomes 2nd LNG-powered RoRo into the fleet
Japanese shipping major NYK Line has taken delivery of the second of four LNG-fuelled pure car truck carriers (PCTC), named Wild Rose Leader.
The 7,000-CEU car carrier was built by Chinese shipbuilder China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Nanjing) Co.
The four units were ordered by NYK at the yard back in 2020.
The vessel measures a total length of 199 meters and a molded width of 38 meters, making it one of the largest ships in its class. One of the key features of this ship is its 12 car decks, 4 movable decks, 1 tailgate and 1 side door, which offer ample space for cargo and passengers.
To facilitate movement within the ship, the decks are connected by movable ramps, ensuring seamless connectivity and ease of access for passengers and crew.
The ship, like its sister vessels, is equipped with battery hybrid technology, aimed at improving fuel efficiency by mitigating main engine and electrical generator load fluctuations through the support of batteries.
The vessel is fitted with Winterthur Gas & Diesel (WinGD) 7X62DF2.1 low-pressure dual-fuel engines by CSSC-MES Diesel (CMD). The engine includes iCER (Intelligent Control by Exhaust Recycling). This means that the engine consumes less gas and reduces GHG by cutting methane emissions from the exhaust gas by approximately 50%.
The use of LNG fuel combined with other energy-efficiency solutions such as hull modification is expected to contribute to a reduction of sulfur oxide (SOx) emissions by 99% compared to ships fueled by heavy fuel oil. Likewise, nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions are set to be cut by 96%, and CO2 emissions by approximately 40% or more (per unit of transportation), according to NYK Line.
The first vessel from the series, Jasmine Leader was delivered in February 2023.
Related Knowledge Center: Offshore wind energy
Over the next decade, U.S. offshore wind power is expected to grow from a single 30-megawatt wind farm off Rhode Island to more than 2,000 MW of capacity along the Atlantic Seaboard. There are contracts for wind power off the coasts of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Virginia.
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has estimated the United States has over 4,000 gigawatts (GW) of offshore wind potential, enough to power the country four times over.
The growth in part being spurred by state solicitations, including in New York, where then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) set a commitment of 9,000 MW of offshore wind by 2035, and in Connecticut, where in June 2021, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) signed legislation authorizing the construction of 2,000 MW of offshore wind by 2030.
The offshore development is also being driven by an investment tax credit set to end in December 2019 and is equal to 12 percent of expenditures. U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Tom Carper (D-Del.) have introduced a bill to extend the tax credit for up to eight years.
The Interior Department has held eight competitive lease sales that resulted in 15 offshore wind leases over 1.7 million acres that has the potential for 21 GW of capacity. In February 2022, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management completed a bidding process that realized $4.37 billion for 488,000 acres across six lease areas in federal waters off New York and New Jersey.
Projects have also been proposed off the Southeast coast, off California and Hawaii, and for the Great Lakes.