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Netherlands-based Kooiman Marine Group has developed a push boat with an LNG dual-fuel propulsion system.

The newly designed push boat, which has been approved by the Central Commission for the Navigation of the Rhine (CCNR), ADN and Lloyds Register, has four Wartsila 6L20 dual-fuel engines plus a DF auxiliary engine. The main engines have a double-walled gas fuel system.

The four-propulsion-line concept with shaft generators combined with batteries to store a surplus of power whilst sailing upstream enable a downstream trip on only two engines using the stored power, according to Kooiman.

It is not just the LNG installation that will reduce emissions; the four-propulsion-line concept, larger overall propeller diameter, tunnel-shaped hull and a new retractable wing design will improve the ship's overall efficiency by 16 percent, Kooiman claims.

Kooiman's other LNG projects

Shipyard Kooiman B.V. forms part of a consortium that earlier this year was awarded a subsidy for the development of LNG as a fuel for inland waterway transport. The subsidy, called 'Breakthrough LNG deployment in Inland Waterway Transport', was granted by the European Union within the framework of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) project.

As partner in the project, which is to run between 1st January 2016 and 31st December 2018, Kooiman has been tasked with working in the following areas:

- A study regarding the standardization and type approval of LNG for inland waterway shipping.

- Pilot deployment: equipping inland waterway vessels with LNG fuelling technology.