22AUG2019 - NEWS - Hapag-Lloyd retrofit: ‘pilot project for entire industry’

As the world’s largest container ship to undergo an LNG conversion, it will pave the way for other container ship operators to carry out such a retrofit or at the very least, make new vessels LNG-ready.

Hapag-Lloyd itself says it wants the “maritime world” to learn from its world-first conversion of a large container ship to LNG (see pages 14-15).

This pioneering project will see Sajir converted to dual-fuel LNG in what Hapag-Lloyd calls a “pilot project for the entire industry”.

The retrofit shows that it makes economic sense. The high costs of retrofitting LNG have been a barrier to its uptake so far. But because the dual-fuel engines are already installed on board due to the vessel being LNG-ready, the retrofit costs were lower. Indeed, Hapag-Lloyd said if it did not have these, its investment for the conversion would be a lot higher, as it can cost US$1M for just one auxiliary to be modified to a dual-fuel engine.