Matson Navigation Company has confirmed that it will convert the main engine aboard its container ship, ‘Kaimana Hila’, from an MAN B&W S90ME-C10.5 unit to a dual-fuel ME-GI unit capable of running on LNG.
The conversion will exercise an option contained in a contract Matson signed with MAN Energy Solutions in June 2022 to perform an identical conversion on a sister ship, the Daniel K Inouye. The Kaimana Hila was built in 2019 and MAN Energy Solutions’ after-sales division, MAN PrimeServ, will perform the 3,600 TEU vessel’s retrofit.
Klaus Rasmussen, Head of Projects and PVU Sales, MAN PrimeServ, said: “This order is the latest example in an increasing trend of owners choosing dual-fuel retrofits for their existing vessels in service to achieve fleet transformation goals while simultaneously gaining benefits in terms of upcoming regulations such as CII and EEXI. Retrofitting an MAN B&W engine to dual-fuel running is straightforward as our standard, electronically-controlled diesel engines are constructed as ‘dual-fuel ready’ and therefore readily retrofittable. Such retrofits offer a viable pathway to shipowners that wish to achieve a net-zero carbon footprint by 2050.”
Capt Jack Sullivan, Matson SVP Vessel Operations and Engineering said: “This will be the third vessel Matson is retrofitting with dual-fuel LNG capability. Each retrofit is a meaningful step toward achieving our corporate sustainability goals to achieve a 40% reduction in Scope 1 greenhouse gas fleet emissions by 2030 and net-zero Scope 1 GHG emissions by 2050.”
The option take-up follows a recent announcement by Matson of the construction of three LNG-powered newbuilds that will also be driven by ME-GI engines.
Since the first two-stroke ME-GI (LNG) retrofit in 2015, MAN Energy Solutions has built a list of references and expanded its portfolio of dual-fuel retrofits to include fuels like LPG and methanol. According to MAN, retrofitting a dual-fuel engine is one of the most effective ways to derive greater efficiency and profitability from a shipping fleet. As such, a dual-fuel conversion delivers the fuel flexibility to take advantage of optimal fuel prices; it can also help vessels comply with IMO emission targets and extend their operational lifetimes to bring a greater return on investments.
US-based Matson is a provider of ocean transportation and logistics services, operating to the domestic non-contiguous economies of Hawaii, Alaska, and Guam, and to other island economies in as well as expedited services from China to Long Beach, California, and to Okinawa, Japan and various islands in the South Pacific.
