On 25th January, in the Port of Turku, Aino-Maija Luukkonen, Mayor of Pori, named the 18k m3 of capacity tanker, which will be used by Skangas to supply Finland with liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The 164 m long Ice Class 1A Super Coral EnergICE - constructed by Neptun Werft in Rostock, owned by Anthony Vader, and chartered by Skangas - has been specifically designed and constructed to operate in the northernmost parts of the Baltic Sea. The ship will feed the import terminals in Pori and Tornio.
The vessel's hull is reinforced to break through 1.0 m thick ice, with the engines and generators designed to give the tanker extra power when sailing through thick ice and in harsh winter conditions. The ship has a dual-fuel engine, using boil-off gas as a fuel for its main and auxiliary engines.
Coral EnergICE features a number of on deck innovations for safer operations, too. There's a cap on the deck, which protects the equipment and prevents icing outside. The vessel also has additional shelters on the deck with warmer platforms for the crew's feet. Heat tracing on the doors ensures that they will always open, no matter how harsh the conditions might be.
The construction of the ship was funded with what's said to be the first sustainable shipping loan, fully certified in accordance with the Clean Shipping Index Guidelines by Bureau Veritas, who also verified the sustainable credentials of the transaction.
"Skangas helps its customers reach their environmental and operational targets by offering efficient and stable LNG deliveries. The new vessel supports our goal to develop the Nordic LNG infrastructure and gas market. This way, we can offer the end users in the maritime and industry sectors an even more competitive product," Kimmo Rahkamo, CEO, Skangas, said.
Jan Valkier, CEO, Anthony Veder, added, "Coral EnergICE is the third LNG carrier we have delivered to our long-term customer Skangas in the past five years. The high-tech vessel is capable of serving the northern Finnish harbor of Tornio all year around, even when temperatures reach as low as -25 Celsius degrees. To ensure that it's a comfortable and friendly place for our crew to work, we engaged an ergonomic engineer to look closely at the accommodation design. I am extremely proud of the end-result."
"Following the successful delivery of Coral Energy in 2012, we were delighted that Anthony Veder awarded us the construction of Coral EnergICE. The new vessel’s design is based on Coral Energy, enhanced with technological innovations and construction adaptations for extreme cold weather conditions, thereby giving her the 1A Super ice class classification," Raimon Strunck, Managing Director, Neptun Werft, summed up.
Photo: Skangas