Keppel on track to deliver South East Asia’s first LNG powered tug
Keppel Offshore & Marine, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Keppel Singmarine, is on track to deliver South East Asia's first dual-fuel LNG tug to Keppel Smit Towage on time and with a perfect safety record, the company said in its press release.
The vessel was named KST Liberty at a ceremony held at Keppel Singmarine today, with Mr Loh Ngai Seng, Permanent Secretary at Singapore's Ministry of Transport as the Guest of Honour.
The 65-tonne bollard pull LNG dual-fuel Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) tug was built to Keppel's proprietary design which won the Outstanding Maritime R&D and Technology Award at the 2015 Singapore International Maritime Awards.
Smart designs were incorporated to enhance the tug's safety and comfort. The LNG fuel is carried in containerised, type-C ISO-certified tanks on the main deck, and re-fuelling can be done by truck to ship operations or replacing the empty tanks with replenished ones. It is equipped with an innovative and patented LNG vaporiser which is compact and cost-effective.
Shell will be supplying the LNG fuel to KST Liberty while FueLNG, a joint venture between Keppel O&M and Shell Eastern Petroleum (Pte) Ltd., will be providing the LNG bunkering services. The LNG bunkering will be conducted at Jurong Port which is able to support LNG bunkering operations.
Keppel O&M is able to offer solutions in both the demand and supply of LNG as fuel. On the supply side, FueLNG, a licensed LNG bunker supplier in Singapore providing safe truck and vessel bunkering solutions, is able to offer LNG bunkering while on the demand side, Keppel O&M has developed a suite of vessels that can run on LNG.
About Keppel Singmarine
Keppel Singmarine is the specialised shipbuilding arm of Keppel Offshore & Marine, with a track record of designing and building some 400 ships of various specifications and functions, spanning from Anchor Handling Tug/Supply vessels, Multi-Purpose Offshore Support vessels and tugboats to highly advanced solutions such as icebreakers and ice-class support vessels.
About Keppel Smit Towage
Keppel Smit Towage Pte Ltd was established in 1991 under a joint venture between Keppel Shipyard Investments Pte Ltd [which is a part of Keppel Offshore & Marine under the umbrella of Keppel Corp] and Smit Singapore Pte Ltd [Which is a part of Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. ("Boskalis")]. The company is one of the largest and leading Harbour tug service providers in Singapore and Asia Pacific region.
