Keppel to Build 2 LNG Containerships for US Waters

Keppel AmFELS, part of Singapore-based Keppel Offshore & Marine, has secured a contract worth more than $400mn from Honolulu-based shipping line Pasha Hawaii for the construction of two LNG-fuelled containerships, it announced August 24.

Under the US Jones Act, vessels carrying goods between US ports must be built in the US, so the vessels are to be built in Brownsville, Texas, and will be delivered in the first and third quarters of 2020. 

“This contract with Keppel allows Pasha Hawaii to continue to move forward in our commitment to providing the best resources possible for our customers and Hawaii’s shipping industry, while minimising our environmental footprint,” said George Pasha, IV, President and CEO, The Pasha Group.

"Keppel AmFELS is ideally located and well-equipped to build a wide variety of vessels for the Jones Act market. We look forward to building these ships which will have a direct impact on American jobs at our shipyard and suppliers across the country," Simon Lee, president of Keppel AmFELS said.

The new, 774-foot Jones Act vessels will be have a fully-laden capacity of five hundred 45-foot containers, 400 refrigerated containers, and 300 40-foot dry containers, with a sailing speed of 23 knots. Moreover they will be able to run completely on LNG fuel, Keppel said.

The UN's International Maritime Organisation has set 2020 as the year of implementation of its 0.5% worldwide cap on sulphur content in marine fuels, but a 0.1% sulphur cap on fuels used in North American (including Hawaii) coastal waters has been in force since 2011, and since 2015 in most northern European coastal waters too. Keppel said that marine LNG offers significant environmental benefits including the reduction of up to 95% sulphur oxides. 

Shardul Sharma