Earlier this month, Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd (
www.global.kawasaki.com) delivered the Pacific Breeze, a 182,000m
3 capacity liquified natural gas (LNG) transport vessel for use by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha Ltd (K Line).
The vessel will transport LNG from the Ichthys LNG project in Australia (operated by Inpex Corporation).
This vessel, the world’s largest Moss-type LNG carrier (named after the company that designed them, the Norwegian company Moss Maritime), was based on the 177,000m3 carrier that was previously the largest Moss-type LNG carrier on offer from Kawasaki.
It is equipped with a DFD (Dual Fuel Diesel) electric propulsion system that is designed to offer excellent fuel efficiency across a broad range of speeds; it can ‘burn’ both oil and gas, whereas a conventional generator engine can only burn oil for fuel.
The propulsion system comprises a number of diesel generators that provide the electricity to power the motors that drive the propeller.