Shell charters 10 LNG dual fuel VLCCs

Shell has chartered 10 newbuild very large crude carriers (VLCCs) that are equipped with the option to burn LNG for bunker fuel.

The first of the VLCCs, each with a roughly 2mn bl capacity, should arrive next year from the South Korean shipyard DSME, which is building all of the tankers.

All charter contracts are for seven years with the tankers' respective owners. Four of the tankers are owned by Advantage Tankers, three by AET and three by International Seaways.

Shell views the use of LNG as a bunker fuel as a key component of its strategy to hit the ship emissions targets set by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which requires that vessels reduce CO2 emissions by 40pc by 2030 from a 2008 baseline, and by 70pc by 2050.

The bunker fuel switch from heavy fuel oil to LNG cuts greenhouse gas emissions by 15-21pc, depending on the ship's speed, from extraction to combustion, according to Shell.

Shell plans to double its existing LNG bunkering infrastructure on key routes by the mid-2020s.

The addition of these 10 VLCCs is expected to bring the number of LNG dual-fuel ships in the global fleet to 475, said Shell.

By Nicholas Watt