Launch and christening of our first LNG bunker tanker vessel Alice Cosulich
We are thrilled to announce that the christening and launch of the first of our two bunker tanker vessels took place on March 22 at the CIMC SOE shipyard in China.
It was attended by Giulia Cosulich - ESG Corporate Director at Fratelli Cosulich Group, acting as the godmother of the vessel. Together with her, other colleagues of the Group attended the event including: Pierpaolo Vinciguerra - General Manager of Fratelli Cosulich LNG and Managing Director at Ecos for FRSU Toscana and Emanuele Calcamuggi - Construction Site Manager.
The bunker tanker vessel has been named Alice Cosulich and will sail under the Italian flag with Captain Vincenzo Scotto at the helm, present also at the christening.
The vessel, which has a 5,300 DWT and can carry 8,200 m3 of LNG and 500 m3 of MGO, will be fitted with Wartsila’s Dual Fuel technology, which is used in many marine propulsion and power production systems. The most efficient ‘boil off’ treatment techniques will be offered by the LNG subcooling plant, completely eliminating any potential environmental effects and minimizing cargo losses.
The propulsion and maneuvering system will be of the azimuth type, with a double bow thruster, to allow high maneuverability in port areas. It will be operated by both onshore and offshore personnel with extensive LNG vessel management skills.
The investment was supported by the collaboration between public entities and private financial institutions with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, SACE Simest (under the ‘Green Guarantee’), BPER Banca and Banca Popolare di Sondrio.
As the project is contributing to the decarbonisation of maritime transport through the implementation of LNG bunkering solutions in the Mediterranean Sea, it has been awarded a grant of 4.5 million euro by the European Union under the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) programme, in which the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti is the European Commission’s “implementing partner” for these important projects.
The delivery of the vessel is scheduled for September 2023.
