SIMIC

Hapag-Lloyd's CEO Rolf Habben Jensen said that "the verdict was still out" on whether investing in LNG as marine fuel would be a good choice or not.

"When you look at future propulsion, we have invested in LNG-ready dual-fuel ships, and the first ones will be delivered next year," he said.

"One can debate whether LNG was a good choice. Nobody really knows. At the end of the day, there will not be a 'one-solution-fits-all'. We will probably look at ammonia, methanol, and maybe at some point in time, also hydrogen," Mr Jensen said.

The 2,246-tonne engine was installed with the help of a floating crane deployed at the Daewoo Shipbuilding, reports Rotterdam's Offshore Energy.

According to Hapag-Lloyd, the new LNG-powered engine has a maximum power of 58.270 kW at 76.5 revolutions per minute, said the report.

The main engine, type MAN-HHI G95ME-C.10.5-GI, is of high-pressure type and will be able to operate also on "green LNG" in the future.

The engine will now undergo further work such as alignment of the shaft and mounting, which is expected to take place in three months. The construction milestone comes on the back of the keel-laying ceremony held in September.

The ship is part of a series of 12 dual-fuel LNG 23,500+ TEU vessels Hapag-Lloyd ordered in late 2020 and mid-2021. The total investment value of the 12 vessels stands at around US$2 billion.

The investment came on the back of the company's first conversion project of an LNG-ready ultra-large containership to LNG.

These are the company's first newbuilds to be designed from the outset as dual-fuel vessels, meaning they can be operated with both conventional fuel oil and liquefied natural gas.

Once completed, the 400-metre long and 61-metre wide newbuilds will be among the largest ships in the world.

The delivery of the containerships is set to start next year, with the first ship slated for delivery on April 30, and the last one on December 31, 2024. Upon delivery, the newbuilds will be deployed on the Europe-Far East routes as part of THE Alliance.