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October 2011 www.sname.org/sname/mt PLATFORM SUPPLY VESSEL BUILDERKleven Maritime OWNEREidesvik Shipping DESIGNERWärtsilä Ship Design DELIVERY 2003 SHIP CHARACTERISTICS LENGTH OVERALL 94.90 m BREADTH MOLDED 20.40 m DESIGN DRAFT 7.90 m TONNAGE5,073 GT TECHNICAL FEATURES ENGINESFour Wärtsilä 6R32DF dual- fuel engines with output of 2,010 kW each SPECIFICATIONS: VIKING ENERGY On the technical side, onboard fuel storage, bunkering, and handling systems are needed to enable the use of LNG fuel. As with many successful innovations, various strands of dierent technologies have been combined to pro- duce a new and viable solution. Overcoming the obstacles A transition to LNG fuel is one of the most realistic options for signicantly reducing the environmen- tal footprint in marine transportation. Carbon-based greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by at least 15%, while sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions are practically entirely eliminated. While today there are approximately 200 vessels around the world using LNG as fuel?mainly oshore vessels, LNG carriers, and passenger ferries?Wärtsilä anticipates that within the coming 10 years, LNG will be the fuel of choice for 1,000 or more of the global eets ships. For example, Wärtsilä enabled the LNG carrier market to conduct an industrial technology shift dur- ing the mid-2000s. Old and inecient technologies, such as boiler and steam turbine propulsion, were replaced by highly ecient dual-fuel technology. is technology now is the norm in LNG shipping. Of course, there have been obstacles, but these are being overcome, both through technical devel- opments and infrastructure improvements. One bottleneck frequently mentioned is the limited LNG bunkering infrastructure. In fact, such an infrastruc- ture is already under development and terminals are being built. The supply of gas can also be organized through the use of trucks and small-scale storage facilities. It could, therefore, be argued that once the need is there, gas utilities will quickly be able to step up to the plate. On the technical side, onboard fuel storage, bun- kering, and handling systems are needed to enable the use of LNG fuel. Wärtsilä has addressed this issue via its LNGPac system, which includes the insulated LNG storage tanks for the vessel, the shore-to-ship bun- kering connections, the pressure control valves, and the overall control system. An integrated solution that includes the LNG storage system can now be oered. is is not to say that all the problems have been entirely eliminated. Challenges still exist in some areas. One such is the methane slip? created by gas engines that allows a small fraction of the fuel to go through unburned. e global warming potential of methane is 25 times more than that of CO 2, and it is a phenomenon that is present in all Otto-cycle engines, both dual-fuel and spark-ignited. However, Wärtsilä has executed a research and development program to minimize methane slip with good results and appears to have the issue under control. e latest dual-fuel engines are optimized to achieve a minimal methane slip, whereas this was not a major consideration at the time Viking Energy was launched in 2003. State-of-the-art Eidesvik Offshore has, to date, ordered five LNG- powered PSVs, all of them designed by Wärtsilä Ship