Singapore-based Fratelli Cosulich announced that on 22 March christened and launched the first of its two Small Scale & Bunker Vessels at the CIMC SOE shipyard in China.
The bunker tanker vessel has been named Alice Cosulich and will sail under the Italian flag with Captain Vincenzo Scotto at the helm. The delivery of the vessel is scheduled for September 2023.
The new vessel, which has a 5,300 deadweight and can carry 8,200 m3 of LNG and 500 m3 of MGO, will be fitted with Wartsila’s dual fuel technology, which is used in many marine propulsion and power production systems.
The most efficient ‘boil off’ treatment techniques will be offered by the LNG subcooling plant, completely eliminating any potential environmental effects and minimizing cargo losses.
The propulsion and maneuvering system will be of the azimuth type, with a double bow thruster, to allow high maneuverability in port areas. It will be operated by both onshore and offshore personnel with extensive LNG vessel management skills.
The investment was supported by the collaboration between public entities and private financial institutions with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, SACE Simest (under the ‘Green Guarantee’), BPER Banca and Banca Popolare di Sondrio.
As the project is contributing to the decarbonisation of maritime transport through the implementation of LNG bunkering solutions in the Mediterranean Sea, it has been awarded a grant by the European Union under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme, with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti acting as “implementing partner”.
