Matson Navigation Company has confirmed that it will convert the main engine aboard its containership, Kaimana Hila, from an MAN B&W S90ME-C10.5 unit to a dual-fuel ME-GI unit capable of running on LNG. In doing so, it is exercising an option contained in a contract it signed with MAN Energy Solutions in June 2022 to perform an identical conversion on a sister ship, the Daniel K. Inouye. The Kaimana Hila was built in 2019 and MAN Energy Solutions’ after-sales division, MAN PrimeServ, will perform the 3,600teu vessel’s retrofit.
Klaus Rasmussen, head of projects and PVU sales, MAN PrimeServ, said: “This order is the latest example in an increasing trend of owners choosing dual-fuel retrofits for their existing vessels in service to achieve fleet-transformation goals while simultaneously gaining benefits in terms of upcoming regulations such as CII and EEXI. Retrofitting an MAN B&W engine to dual-fuel running is straightforward as our standard, electronically controlled diesel engines are constructed as ‘dual-fuel ready’ and therefore readily retrofittable.“
This will be the third vessel Matson is retrofitting with dual-fuel LNG capability.
