KNOT shuttles will feature Wärtsilä VOC recovery and LNG fuel technology

Wärtsilä is to provide its Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) Recovery System, together with an LNG Fuel Gas Supply System, for two new 124,000 DWT shuttle tankers.

The ships have been ordered by Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers (KNOT) and will be built at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine yard in Korea.

With this technology, the liquefied VOC are mixed with LNG and used as fuel for the main and auxiliary engines. By using LNG as the primary fuel and supplementing this with the energy recovered from the VOC, these vessels will be able to lower their emissions of CO2 equivalents by 30 to 35 percent, a minimum of 30,000 tons per year, compared to conventional oil-fueled shuttle tankers. These savings are roughly the equivalent of the total emissions from approximately 20,000 cars.

“Wärtsilä has developed its VOC abatement technology over the past 20 years, and our competence in this field is unmatched in the marine sector,” says Hans Jakob Buvarp, General Manager, Sales, Wärtsilä Marine. “It means that for these vessels, with the combination of Wärtsilä’s VOC recovery and LNG fuel systems, they will not only be extremely sustainable environmentally, but will also be commercially attractive. The VOCs that would otherwise be emitted to the atmosphere can instead be burned as fuel.”

“Our industry is rapidly changing towards greater environmental awareness and improved operational efficiency. These two new ships will reflect this change, thanks largely to Wärtsilä’s advanced technology. They will truly represent the new generation of shuttle tankers, with vastly reduced emissions and lower fuel costs,” says Jarle Østenstad, New Building Director, Knutsen OAS.

The Wärtsilä solutions will be delivered to the shipyard commencing in November of this year. When delivered, the tankers will operate in the North Sea oil fields.