Maersk Halifax ‘blueprint’ for further LNG retrofits, says MAN
Elongating the vessel for methanol tanks provided some 690 TEU of extra capacity (Source: Maersk)
The recent retrofit of a Maersk vessel, Maersk Halifax, has generated a ‘blueprint’ for future methanol conversions, says MAN Energy Solutions.
Over the course of an 88-day docking at Zhoushan Xinya Shipyard in China, the vessel was elongated by some 15m, adding 690 TEU of deck capacity, in order to accommodate new expanded methanol fuel tanks, while its MAN B&W 8G95ME-C9.5 main engine was retrofitted into an 8G95ME-LGIM Mk10.5 by the MAN PrimeServ team.
MAN also upgraded the vessel’s engine to use the company’s latest engine control system, Triton.
Maersk has now placed an order for ten further vessels to be converted to methanol by MAN PrimeServ.
“Retrofits are one of the five growth areas identified in MAN Energy Solutions’ ‘Moving Big Things To Zero’ strategy, enabling shipowners to drastically reduce CO2 emissions without having to commission newbuilds.
“Retrofitted engines are able to switch between fuels with minimal disruption, flexibility that is crucial for maintaining operational efficiency and reliability. At PrimeServ, we estimate that more than 4,000 existing marine engines have the potential to be converted to operation on green fuels like e-methanol and e-methane.”
It was not the first major overhaul for Maersk Halifax, formerly Maersk Honam, which suffered a catastrophic fire in 2018, a year after delivery.
