This LNG Dual-Fuel DPS tanker emits 85% less SOx, 98% less NOx, 98% less particulate matter and 93% less black carbon particulates than DPSTs burning conventional fuel.

The sister twin-skeg 123,100dwt shuttle tankers, Eagle Blane and Eagle Balder, were unveiled at a naming ceremony held at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) Geoje Shipyard, South Korea.

The vessels will serve Norwegian energy company Equinor on long-term charter for operations both in oilfields on the Norwegian Continental Shelf of the North Sea, Norwegian Sea and the southern Barents Sea, as well as on the UK Continental Shelf.

Powered using liquified natural gas (LNG) as primary fuel, the LNG Dual-Fuel Dynamic Positioning Shuttle Tankers (DPSTs) will also be able to capture 100% of the harmful Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) which escape into the air from crude oil cargoes during loading and voyage for reuse as a supplementary fuel.

Utilising a more efficient system for dynamic positioning (the activity of ensuring the vessel remains stationary above a specified area of seabed while loading oil at sea), combined with the LNG Dual-Fuelling and VOC Recovery Systems, these vessels will save up to an estimated 3,000 tonnes fuel per year compared with conventional DPSTs of the same size.

The vessels have been constructed by Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI), for AET Sea Shuttle AS (AETSS), a joint venture between Norwegian shipping company ADS Shipping and AET Tankers headquartered in Singapore, as the owner and commercial operator of the vessels. Project management for the newbuilds was provided by MISC Group’s marine services arm Eaglestar and Norwegian third-party ship management company, OSM Maritime.