CMES to install air lubrication technology

China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES), the Shanghai-listed energy transport unit of China Merchants Group, has signed up to install air lubrication technology on up to six LNG carriers being built at Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC).

A deal with the London-based cleantech company Silverstream Technologies for four firm installations and two options will see the technology fitted onto the very first Chinese-owned, Chinese-built LNG ships.

Silverstream’s air lubrication system creates a carpet of microbubbles that coat the flat bottom of the vessel, reducing frictional resistance. The system is said to reduce fuel consumption and associated GHG emissions by up to 10%. The latest order brings Silverstream’s total number of contracted LNG carriers to 23, eight of which are already in service.

The installations will take place over the next two years, with work expected to be completed by the end of 2024, in line with DSIC’s building schedule. The system will co-exist onboard with a number of other technological innovations, including a Mark III membrane cargo containment system and LNG dual-fuel propulsion. The new 175,000 cu m ships are each jointly classed between China Classification Society and Lloyd’s Register, American Bureau of Shipping, DNV and Bureau Veritas respectively.