DSME installs main engine on first LNG-powered containership

South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering has installed the main engine on the first out of twelve ultra large LNG-powered container vessels it is building for Germany’s Hapag-Lloyd.

Hapag-Lloyd first ordered six LNG dual-fuel 23,660-teu containerships from DSME in 2020 and added six more sister vessels in 2021, with a total price tag of about $2 billion.

The German shipping firm will take delivery of these vessels in 2023 and 2024. All of the vessels will feature MAN ME-GI main engines.

DSME held the keel-laying ceremony for the first vessel in these series, Hamburg Express, on September 21 and now has installed the main engine on this ship.

According to a social media post by Hapag-Lloyd, the 2,246-tonne engine was deployed at DSME’s yard in Geoje with a giant floating crane. The new LNG-powered engine has a maximum power of 58.270 kW at 76.5 revolutions per minute. This is about the power of more than 190 mid-size cars with 300 kW combined, Hapag-Lloyd said. Further work, including alignment of the shaft and mounting, would take another three months.