Siport21 is involved in the review of the mooring equipment design and compatibility studies of the first Spanish small-scale LNG carrier, the “Haugesund Knutsen”. The ship, owned by the shipping company Knutsen OAS, began operating in January.
This new carrier, built by Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros Armon in Gijon and flagged in Spain, has 92 metres length, 17 metres breadth, 3.927 GT and 5.000 cubic metres capacity.
The maritime and port engineering consultancy company carried out compatibility and mooring studies of the “Haugesund Knutsen” in different terminals and during STS operations, according to the requirements of OCIMF MEG-4. In addition, Siport21 provided training sessions to familiarize the crew with the new vessel, using advanced simulation tools.
This project adds to Siport21 experience of in innovative operations, where they have participated in several international projects related to LNG Bunker, Small Scale and alternative fuels. They have been involved from the port infrastructure design and upgrade phases to the nautical operations, risk assessment, crew training or development of simulation tools.
Some examples are: the development of SiBunker, a software tool to evaluate operation procedures for bunkering of LNG; ECOBUQ, a ship configuration simulator related to economic and environmental efficiency using alternative fuels such as ammonia or hydrogen; or Newbunker, an initiative aimed at analyzing the state of the art of marine propulsion systems using alternative fuels in comparison to conventional fuels.
These initiatives aim to comply with the measures established by the International Maritime Organization in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from ships and improve their energy efficiency.