SCF Group marks first year of operating LNG-fuelled oil tankers

Crude oil, petroleum products, and liquefied gas maritime transportation firm Sovcomflot (SCF Group) on Tuesday (9 July) marked its first anniversary since taking delivery of the first of its ‘Green Funnel’ liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuelled Aframax crude oil tankers a year ago.

It said it has accumulated data showing that using LNG as a primary fuel for these large-capacity tankers enabled a 30% reduction of CO2 emissions compared with similar vessels powered by traditional heavy fuel.

This reduction exceeds the original design target values.

“It is remarkable that during the round-trip voyage from Primorsk to Rotterdam and back, an LNG-fuelled ‘Green Funnel’ tanker of Sovcomflot emits 350 tonnes of CO2 less than a similar vessel powered by a standard marine fuel,” said Igor Tonkovidov, Executive Vice President and CTO/COO of Sovcomflot.

He was delivering a report on the first results of operating ‘Green Funnel’ series tankers while visiting Zvezda Shipbuilding Complex in the Russian Far East, where five similar LNG-fuelled large-capacity tankers being built for Sovcomflot.

“By 2023, SCF Group plans to have 11 LNG-fuelled tankers in its fleet, with five more under technical management,” noted Tonkovidov.

Related: VEB.RF Group provides financing for Sovcomflot LNG-fuelled MR tankers
Related: Sovcomflot orders LNG-fuelled tankers from Zvezda Shipbuilding
Related: Zvezda Shipyard to build LNG-fuelled Aframax vessels

Photo credit: Sovcomflot
Published: 11 June, 2019