• 05 May 2016

The United European Car Carriers (UECC) company has launched TBN AUTO ECO, a dual-fuel LNG pure car and truck carrier (PCTC), the first of its kind ordered with an LNG fuel propulsion system. The vessel, 181 metres long with a 30 metres beam, it is able to transport approximately 3 800 standard sized cars spread over 10 decks, and has 1A super Finnish/Swedish ice class, facilitating year round trading in the Baltic area. It is the first PCTC of its kind to be fitted with an LNG fuel propulsion system, and can complete a fourteen day round voyage in the Baltic using solely LNG fuel, including main engine and auxiliary power generation. The formal launching ceremony for TBN AUTO ECO took place at NACKS shipyard in Nantong, China. The next milestones for the ship will be sea trials and gas trials, where her dual-fuel capabilities will be put to the test and her engines will run solely on LNG. TBN AUTO ECO is then scheduled to be delivered to UECC at the end of September 2016, togheter with a second twin ship ordered to Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI) and Nantong COSCO KHI Ship Engineering Co. Ltd., with the contract signed in march 2014.