The ship has been developed in cooperation with Iino Gas Transport, Osaka Gas, Izumi Steel Works, and Miura Shipbuilding in terms of safety assessments.
As explained, the approval is based on ClassNK’s Rule Part N which adopts IGC Code and its Guidelines for Ships Using Low-Flashpoint Fuels.
Specifically, the vessel is designed to be equipped with an LPG reformer developed jointly by Daihatsu Diesel and Osaka Gas, and a dual fuel engine developed by Daihatsu Diesel.
The LPG reformer is designed to convert LPG into synthetic methane gas equivalent to the kind found in LNG. Due to being mainly composed of propane and butane, LPG is susceptible to knocking (abnormal combustion), making it difficult to use as a fuel for lean-burn gas engines and dual fuel engines.
In contrast, by converting LPG into synthetic methane gas with the LPG reformer prior to fueling the engine, the risks of knocking can be restrained, which is expected to have an equivalent operational performance observed when using LNG, according to ClassNK.
