JHW Orders Multiple VLECs Featuring MAN Diesel & Turbo Propulsion Package
JHW has ordered five 85,000 m3 Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs) for a JACCAR/Hartmann Reederei joint venture, called UEC (United Ethane Carriers).
Each vessel will be powered by a single MAN B&W 6G60ME-GI main engine. Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Offshore Co. Ltd. (DSIC) will construct the vessels in China, while Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) will build the engines in Korea. Delivery of the first carrier is scheduled for the middle of 2017.
Captain Ulrich Adami, Fleet Manager of Hartmann Schiffahrts GmbH & Co. KG, said, “The ME-GI engine appealed to us for several reasons, not least its environmental credentials with negligible slip of gas fuel, and its robust, stable combustion properties – even in heavy seas. We also viewed its high fuel efficiency and its flexibility of being able to run on HFO or ethane as pluses when it came to selecting main engines for our newbuilds.”
The engines will meet Tier III emission requirements with the aid of MAN Diesel & Turbo’s EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation) technique. They will feature an injection pressure of 400 bar and form the main part of a propulsion system that also features a MAN Diesel & Turbo Alpha controllable pitch propeller. The ME-GI engines will drive VBS1810 propellers, which are the largest Mk 5 models (diameter 7.6 m) ordered from MAN Diesel & Turbo’s propeller portfolio to date.
Upon completion, the vessels will be the largest ethane carriers ever constructed.