Gagarin Prospect chosen as Nor-Shipping 2019 Next Generation Award winner
Gagarin Prospect, the world’s first Aframax tanker designed to run on LNG, has been crowned as the winner of the Nor-Shipping 2019 Next Generation Ship Award. The accolade, awarded by Norwegian Minister of Trade Torbjørn Røe Isaksen at the Nor-Shipping Opening Ceremony in Oslo last night, saw the Sovcomflot vessel defeat a competitive shortlist that featured Yara Birkeland, alongside innovative shuttle tanker concepts from AET and Teekay.
The Next Generation Ship Award is a celebration of innovation in ship design and technology. It has become an integral part of Nor-Shipping since its launch in 2011. This year the award has been combined with the Energy Efficiency Award and opened to existing ships built since the last Nor-Shipping exhibition in 2017, to older ships which have undergone retrofit or conversion, and to newbuildings scheduled to debut over the next five years.
It made for a competing field that was, Jury Chairman Malcolm Latarche notes, almost too close to call.
Gagarin Prospect was delivered from Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries in July 2018 and is now time-chartered to Shell for up to ten years. She is the first of an initial order of six such vessels by Sovcomflot as part of its ‘Green Funnel’ initiative. This was launched in partnership with Shell to introduce LNG as a primary fuel for large-capacity tankers and, in general, for vessels not tied to fixed routes or set timetables.
With her ice class 1A hull, Gagarin Prospect is designed for year-round export operations from areas with challenging ice conditions. She is equipped with ice radars and spotlights, ensuring full compliance with the recently introduced Polar Code. Her main engines, auxiliaries, and boilers are dual fuel and the ship runs regularly on LNG. She is fitted with a low-pressure X-DF dual fuel engine, to minimise emissions of particulate matter. When not utilising LNG fuel, the installation of Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology enables her to comply with the Tier III regulations governing NOx emissions.
Nor-Shipping 2019, Your Arena for Ocean Solutions, takes place in Oslo and Lillestrøm, Norway, from 04 to 07 June. In all around 35,000 delegates, from over 75 countries, with close to 1,000 exhibiting companies, are expected to attend Nor-Shipping’s Lillestrøm-based exhibition and diverse programme of activities taking place across the Norwegian capital.
Nor-Shipping 2019
Nor-Shipping 2019 takes place in Oslo and Lillestrøm, Norway, from 04 to 07 June 2019.
