China’s CIMC Raffles in Yantai has delivered the first LNG-powered pure car and truck carrier to owner Zodiac Maritime and charterer BYD.
According to a statement by the unit of CIMC, it recently delivered BYD Explorer No. 1 to Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Maritime.
CIMC Raffles and Zodiac Maritime signed this contract in September 2021 for four firm vessels with a capacity of 7,000 ceu and this vessel is the first from that order.
After that, Zodiac Maritime ordered more vessels and now has ten LNG-powered PCTCs on order at the yard.
This PCTC is the first car carrier built by a Chinese shipyard which will be specially used for the export of domestic cars, according to CIMC Raffles.
It is also the first LNG-powered PCTC in BYD’s fleet. The Chinese electric vehicle giant has LNG-powered PCTCs on order at Guangzhou Shipyard International (GSI) and China Merchants Industry.
BYD Explorer No. 1 has an overall length of 199.90 meters, a width of 38 meters, and a desing speed of 19 knots.
Back in February 2022, Singapore-based C-LNG Solutions won a contract from CIMC Raffles to provide its LNG fuel gas supply system for each of the first four dual-fuel PCTCs with a capacity of 7000 units.
These ships will have two sets of 1,600-cbm type C LNG tanks that will deliver fuel to MAN’s ME-GI high-pressure engine, C-LNG said at the time.
