The hot market for autocarriers has lead shipping companies to make major investments in new Pure Car and Truck Carrier (PCTC) ships, but also to make improvements in their efficiency both commercially and environmentally. As previously reported here on February 5 Volkswagen has partnered with Wallenius Lines to build more aerodynamic ships incorporating improvements in hull and propulsion design.
Today's (February 24) arrival the Lake Shirasagi is the third of ten new ships to be built in China for Eastern Pacific Shipping (EPS) with LNG as its primary fuel. The ship is also equipped to connect to shore power where available. All these features are vividly broadcast on the ships sides.
The Lake Shirasagi was delivered in December 2024 by China Merchants Jinling Shipyard in Nanjing. It is a 71,631 gt, 19.046 dwt ship with a capacity of 7,000 CEU. Its twelve decks, four of which are hoistable for high loads, are served by a 150 tonne capacity stern ramp and a 20 tonne capacity starboard side ramp. (Side ramps are rare on newer PCTCs.)
The ship is on its first voyage, and has been assigned to the Wallenius Wilhelmsen transatlantic car and RoRo service. It has called on the usual rotation of European ports, Tilbury, Antwerp, Rotterdam, Rozenburg, Bremerhaven, Goteborg, Zebrugge and Southampton.
On arrival this afternoon, the ship made its way to Bedford Basin, turned and came alongside Pier 9C to discharge RoRo cargo. It is scheduled to move to Autoport this evening.
When it arrived in Singapore in December it took on 1629m3 of LNG from an LNG bunkering vessel. These Ship to Ship (STS) refuelings are now available in other major ports such as Vancouver, but so far there would very little demand in Halifax, although the Port of Halifax is studying the provision of alternative fuels such as hydrogen.
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