Sumitomo Heavy Industries Marine & Engineering Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd., was granted an Approval in Principle (AiP) from Lloyd’s Register Group Limited for a medium-size tanker equipped with a high-pressure LNG dual-fuel system.

This tanker is equipped with an LNG dual-fuel system and large-capacity LNG tank. The vessel can substantially reduce the amount of sulfur oxide (SO_x), nitrogen oxide (NO_x) and carbon dioxide (CO₂) contained in the engine exhaust gas by using LNG as primary fuel.

LNG-fueled engines present environmental challenges in that unburnt methane (a greenhouse gas) is emitted into the atmosphere from their exhaust gas. However, the ME-GI type main engine designed by MAN Energy & Solutions that will be installed on the vessel will substantially reduce those emissions and also improve fuel efficiency.

High-pressure LNG that has been pressurized to approximately 300 bar will be supplied to this main engine through an LNG pump and vaporizer.

Sumitomo’s tanker will far exceed the level of Phase 3 of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI), which will be mandatory to ships deployed in the international trade.