LNG/CNG fuel for cruise ships

[Jim Avery]

I was reading an article about the new build RCL ship which is to be fueled by Liquid Natural Gas (LNG).  As a former ship Captain we docked near LNG terminals on tankers.  We had to take precautions on our ship when LNG ships were loading.  I am wondering what will be the case on cruise ships powered this way.  It is appropriate here as some of the future Viking ships are supposedly being powered with gas as well.  I know storage, fueling, and availability are much different from oil.  I wonder how available LNG is in some of the out of the way places cruise ships go and can take on oil fuel.  Hoping Chengkp75 will help us understand more as he is a recently retired Master Chief Engineer on ships and certainly knows more about this than us lowly deck officers.  How about it Chief?  Can future cruise ships take on LNG bunkers with passengers onboard?  Just one of the questions that comes to mind.  😎

[njhorseman]

Perhaps this will summon the chief :

@chengkp75, any comment?

[Heidi13]

6 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

I was reading an article about the new build RCL ship which is to be fueled by Liquid Natural Gas (LNG).  As a former ship Captain we docked near LNG terminals on tankers.  We had to take precautions on our ship when LNG ships were loading.  I am wondering what will be the case on cruise ships powered this way.  It is appropriate here as some of the future Viking ships are supposedly being powered with gas as well.  I know storage, fueling, and availability are much different from oil.  I wonder how available LNG is in some of the out of the way places cruise ships go and can take on oil fuel.  Hoping Chengkp75 will help us understand more as he is a recently retired Master Chief Engineer on ships and certainly knows more about this than us lowly deck officers.  How about it Chief?  Can future cruise ships take on LNG bunkers with passengers onboard?  Just one of the questions that comes to mind.  😎

 

Jim,

 

I'm sure the Chief will add some expert opinion, but I did a little research prior to retirement, as my last command headed to a S/Y for LNG conversion, shortly after I retired. Has now been operational for over 5-years.

 

The bunker tanks must be deep tanks, not connected to the hull, and they must have a substantial vent to atmosphere to prevent over-pressure in the event the fuel heats up. They must also carry diesel, as the engines are started on diesel and when they switch over to LNG, they still inject some diesel for combustion.

 

When bunkering an empty tank, the initial process is very slow, as the tank must be chilled by loading the LNG slowly. Once the tank has chilled they can ramp up the loading rate.

 

We bunkered by road tankers that drive onto the car deck at night, so no pax onboard. On the cruise ships, I believe most are using LNG bunker barges/tankers and they will be bunkering with pax aboard. Normal precautions will be in force, with outboard decks closed off, in the vicinity of the barge. 

[Jim Avery]

That sounds as though bunkering will take longer?  That time would have to come out of the cruise or create longer turnaround.  And I know cars powered by CNG or other gas don't seem to have the range as well as reduced horsepower.  It will be interesting to see how this goes.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, Jim Avery said:

That sounds as though bunkering will take longer?  That time would have to come out of the cruise or create longer turnaround.  And I know cars powered by CNG or other gas don't seem to have the range as well as reduced horsepower.  It will be interesting to see how this goes.

 

Jim,

 

I recently read the new Carnival ship took a full load for a cruise in about 6 hrs, at a rate of 1,000 m3 per hour.

[KBs mum]

I don’t know any of the technicalities involved, but I saw an article in a newspaper a while back about Norway banning diesel (or nautical equivalent?) fuelled ships from some of the fjords. Made me wonder if the two new version. Viking ships were for the Norway itineraries and the others would carry on elsewhere.

How do the fuel costs compare, and out of curiosity, would hydrogen work as a ship fuel?

[Jim Avery]

That's pretty good.  Shouldn't impact timing.  How available are fueling points in, say, the South Pacific?

[Heidi13]

2 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

That's pretty good.  Shouldn't impact timing.  How available are fueling points in, say, the South Pacific?

 

I believe it is only available in N/America & Europe, at this time.

[Cienfuegos]

There are a number of ships which run on LNG.  CruiseCritic had an article listing those which have been delivered, and others on order.

 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=5138